Sweat
Pronunciation
- enPR: swĕt, IPA: /swɛt/
- Rhymes: -ɛt
Origin 1
From Old English swÄt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-, from Proto-Indo-European *swoyd- ("to sweat"), *sweyd-. Cognate with West Frisian swit, Dutch zweet, German Schweiß, Danish sved, Swedish svett, Yiddish שוויצן (English shvitz), French sueur, Persian خوی, Sanskrit सà¥à¤µà¥‡à¤¦, Latvian sviedri, Tocharian B syÄ-, and Albanian djersë.
Full definition of sweat
Noun
sweat
(usually uncountable; plural sweats)- Fluid that exits the body through pores in the skin usually due to physical stress and/or high temperature for the purpose of regulating body temperature and removing certain compounds from the circulation.
- (British, slang, military slang, especially WWI) A soldier (especially one who is old or experienced).
- (historical) The sweating sickness.
- 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate 2010, page 131:When the sweat comes back this summer, 1528, people say, as they did last year, that you won't get it if you don't think about it.
- Moisture issuing from any substance.the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack
- A short run by a racehorse as a form of exercise.
Synonyms
- (fluid that exits the body through pores) perspiration
- sudor
Derived terms
Origin 2
From Old English swætan, from the noun swÄt. Compare Dutch zweten, German schwitzen, Danish svede.
Verb
- (intransitive) To emit sweat.
- (transitive) To cause to excrete moisture from the skin; to cause to perspire.His physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.
- (intransitive, informal) To work hard.I've been sweating over my essay all day.
- (transitive, informal) To extract money, labour, etc. from, by exaction or oppression.to sweat a spendthrift; to sweat labourers
- (intransitive, informal) To worry.
- (transitive, colloquial) To worry about (something). from 20th c.
- 2010, Brooks Barnes, "Studios battle to save Narnia", The New York Times, 5 Dec 2010:There are few matters studio executives sweat more than maintaining their franchises.
- (transitive) To emit, in the manner of sweat.to sweat blood
- DrydenWith exercise she sweat ill humors out.
- (intransitive) To emit moisture.The cheese will start sweating if you don't refrigerate it.
- (intransitive, plumbing) To solder (a pipe joint) together.
- (transitive, slang) To stress out.Stop sweatin' me!
- (transitive, intransitive) To cook slowly in shallow oil without browning.
- (transitive, archaic) To remove a portion of (a coin), as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal.
- R. CobdenThe only use of it money which is interdicted is to put it in circulation again after having diminished its weight by sweating, or otherwise, because the quantity of metal contains is no longer consistent with its impression.