sweat

American  

[swet] / swɛt /

verb (used without object)

• sweats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sweated,
  past participle,  past
• sweat,
  past participle,  past
• sweating
  present participle

1. to perspire, especially freely or profusely.

2. to exude moisture, as green plants piled in a heap or cheese.

3. to gather moisture from the surrounding air by condensation.

4. (of moisture or liquid) to ooze or be exuded.

5. Informal. to work hard.

6. Informal. to experience distress, as from anxiety.

7. (of tobacco) to ferment.

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verb (used with object)

• sweats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sweated,
  past participle,  past
• sweat,
  past participle,  past
• sweating
  present participle

1. to excrete (perspiration, moisture, etc.) through the pores of the skin.

2. to exude in drops or small particles.

   The drying figs sweat tiny drops of moisture.

3. to send forth or get rid of with or like perspiration (often followed by out oroff ).

4. to wet or stain with perspiration.

5. to cause (a person, a horse, etc.) to perspire.

6. to cause to exude moisture, especially as a step in an industrial drying process.

   to sweat wood.

7. to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work.

8. to cause to lose (weight) as by perspiring or hard work.

   The hard week's work sweated five pounds off him.

9. to cause, force, or bring pressure on (a person, an animal, etc.) to work hard.

10. to employ (workers) at low wages, for long hours, or under other unfavorable conditions.

11. to labor with meticulous care over.

    The manufacturer of this beautiful car has really sweated the details.

12. Slang.

    1. to obtain or extort (money) from someone.

    2. to extort money from; fleece.

13. Slang. to subject to severe questioning; give the third degree to.

14. Metallurgy.

    1. to heat (an alloy) in order to remove a constituent melting at a lower temperature than the alloy as a whole.

    2. to heat (solder or the like) to melting.

    3. to join (metal objects) by heating and pressing together, usually with solder.

15. to remove bits of metal from (gold coins) by shaking them against one another, as in a bag.

16. to cause (tobacco or cocoa) to ferment.

noun

• sweat
  plural

1. the process of sweating or perspiring.

2. that which is secreted from sweat glands; perspiration.

3. a state or a period of sweating.

4. hard work.

5. Informal. a state of anxiety or impatience.

6. a process of inducing sweating or perspiration, or of being sweated, as in medical treatment.

7. moisture exuded from something or gathered on a surface.

8. an exuding of moisture, as by a substance.

9. an inducing of such exudation, as in some industrial process.

10. a run given to a horse for exercise, as before a race.

11. Informal. sweats, sweatpants, sweatshirts, sweat suits, or the like.

adjective

1. Informal.

   1. (of clothes) made to be worn for exercise, sports, or other physical activity.

   2. made of the absorbent fabric used for such clothes.

      sweat dresses.

   3. of, for, or associated with such clothes.

      the sweat look in sportswear.

verb phrase

1. sweat out

   1. to await anxiously the outcome of; endure apprehensively.

      The accused sweated out the jury's deliberation.

   2. to work arduously at or toward.

      The director sweated out a camera angle with the cinematographer.

idioms

1. no sweat, with no difficulty or problem.

2. sweat blood,

   1. to be under a strain; work strenuously.

   2. to wait anxiously; worry.

      He was sweating blood while his friend was being questioned by the police.

3. sweat bullets,

   1. to sweat profusely.

   2. to be apprehensive; worry.

4. sweat it,

   1. to wait anxiously; endure the best way one can.

      There was no news of survivors, so all we could do was sweat it.

   2. to worry; be apprehensive.

      You'll do OK, so don't sweat it.

sweat British  

/ swɛt /

noun

1. the secretion from the sweat glands, esp when profuse and visible, as during strenuous activity, from excessive heat, etc; commonly also called perspiration

2. the act or process of secreting this fluid

3. the act of inducing the exudation of moisture

4. drops of moisture given forth or gathered on the surface of something

5. informal a state or condition of worry or eagerness (esp in the phrase in a sweat )

6. slang drudgery or hard labour

   mowing lawns is a real sweat!

7. an exercise gallop given to a horse, esp on the day of a race

8. slang a soldier, esp one who is old and experienced

9. slang (interjection) an expression suggesting that something can be done without problems or difficulty

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verb

1. to secrete (sweat) through the pores of the skin, esp profusely

2. (tr) to make wet or stain with sweat

3. to give forth or cause to give forth (moisture) in droplets

   a sweating cheese

   the maple sweats sap

4. (intr) to collect and condense moisture on an outer surface

   a glass of beer sweating in the sun

5. (intr) (of a liquid) to pass through a porous surface in droplets

6. (of tobacco leaves, cut and dried hay, etc) to exude moisture and, sometimes, begin to ferment or to cause (tobacco leaves, etc) to exude moisture

7. (tr) to heat (food, esp vegetables) slowly in butter in a tightly closed saucepan

8. (tr) to join (pieces of metal) by pressing together and heating

9. (tr) to heat (solder) until it melts

10. (tr) to heat (a partially fused metal) to extract an easily fusible constituent

11. to shake together (coins, esp gold coins) so as to remove particles for illegal use

12. informal to suffer anxiety, impatience, or distress

13. informal to overwork or be overworked

14. informal (tr) to employ at very low wages and under bad conditions

15. informal (tr) to extort, esp by torture

    to sweat information out of a captive

16. informal (intr) to suffer punishment

    you'll sweat for this!

17. informal

    1. to work very hard

    2. to be filled with anxiety or impatience

sweat Scientific  

/ swĕt /

1. The salty liquid given off by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. As sweat evaporates, the skin cools, causing a reduction in body heat.

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sweat More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing sweat

• by the sweat of one's brow
• in a cold sweat
• no problem (sweat)

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Synonym Usage

See perspiration.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonsweating
  adjective
• sweatless
  adjective
• unsweating
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sweat
  plural

Participles

• sweating
  present
• sweat
  past
• sweated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sweat
  simple
• sweats
  simple
• have sweat
  perfect
• have sweated
  perfect
• has sweat
  perfect
• has sweated
  perfect
• am sweating
  progressive
• are sweating
  progressive
• is sweating
  progressive
• have been sweating
  perfect progressive
• has been sweating
  perfect progressive

Past

• sweat
  simple
• sweated
  simple
• had sweat
  perfect
• had sweated
  perfect
• was sweating
  progressive
• were sweating
  progressive
• had been sweating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sweat
  simple
• will have sweat
  perfect
• will have sweated
  perfect
• will be sweating
  progressive
• will have been sweating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of sweat

First recorded before 900; 1970–75 sweat for def. 6; (verb) Middle English sweten, Old English swǣtan “to sweat,” derivative of swāt (noun); (noun) Middle English swet, sweet, influenced by the verb, cognate with Dutch zweet, German Schweiss, Old Norse sveiti; akin to Sanskrit svéda-, Latin sūdor, Greek hidrṓs

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Explanation

Sweat is perspiration that makes you feel cooler when it evaporates off the surface of your skin — or the giving-off of this liquid. If you exercise hard, you will sweat. The word sweat comes from the Old English word swætan, which means “perspire,” and “work hard.” Though sweat is the body's way of cooling itself, today it also means "to worry or be stressed out." If someone tells you not to sweat it, it means "don't worry." But if someone is "sweating" you, it means you are hassled, maybe being asked every five minutes, "Did you finish your work yet?"

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sweat sweats sweated sweating

The Lakers were beginning a grueling five-game, seven-day stretch, but Vanderbilt was on the practice court in a full sweat at full speed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

The Black Caps' 198-3 was set up by Daryl Mitchell's 89 from 52 balls and Finn Allen added 40 off 25, and their total looked competitive until India barely broke a sweat in their pursuit.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

“It can itch as my skin adjusts to the glue or when sweat builds up under it,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

As telecommunications investors sweat the threat of SpaceX, AT&T’s latest results on Wednesday just showed that Elon Musk’s company isn’t denting the growth of its internet business.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

I jerked upright in a cold sweat, shouting his name.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

My glass of vermút sweats down to the turquoise tabletop.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

I always wear sweats and hoodies — literally just sweats and hoodies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Research suggests your body sweats more quickly to get rid of the excess heat after a hot drink.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Hot flushes and night sweats are common for perimenopausal and menopausal women due to lowering oestrogen, according to Dr Arif.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

They would stand on the corner of Gwynn Oak and Liberty, or Cold Spring and Park Heights, or outside Mondawmin Mall, with their hands dipped in Russell sweats.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

In cold weather, stopping was dangerous because the men sweated so much that they were at risk of hypothermia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Workers sweated in choking heat and pupils stayed home on Tuesday as an early-summer heatwave smothered much of Europe, sparking health warnings.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Uruguay, whose concerted renewables push has granted almost total energy independence, sweated little during the 2022 energy shock, and now has the ability to export clean power to neighbors in need.

From Slate ● Mar. 12, 2026

RFK had sweated through a teal t-shirt, which he had tucked into blue jeans.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2025

When he thought of this he sweated heavy cold sweat, and he dared to tell no one what his uncle hid in his bosom.

From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

I am sweating my way through a version of this concern as I write what is my final “On the Clock” column.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

But Rosenblatt analyst Scott Devitt isn’t sweating the popularity of Meta Platforms’

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

I, meanwhile, was carrying a sweating plastic cup.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

His goal at Tottenham in March was crucial in Forest's 3-0 win, giving them the platform to survive and keeping Spurs sweating on their top-flight status until the final day.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

The uncle who looked and smelled like an onion stood by the door, sweating.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

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