| 释义 |
▪ I. sweat, n.|swɛt|
Forms: 4 suet, 4, (8 Sc.) sweet, 4–6 swete, suete, swett(e, 4–7 swet, (5 suett, squete), 5–7 Sc. sweit, (6 swetth, Sc. sueit), 6–7 sweate, 6– sweat.
[ME. swet, swete, alteration of swot(e (see swote) after swete, sweat v. First exemplified from northern texts, in which close and open e rimed together as early as the fourteenth century; hence, on the one hand, swet: feit (OE. fét) and bete (OE. bétan), on the other, swet: gret (OE. gréat).]
I.
†1. The life-blood: in phr. to tine, leave, lose the sweat: to lose one's life-blood, die. Obs.
The existence of this use is difficult to account for, since the sense of ‘blood’ which belonged to OE. swát (e.g. swát forlǽtan) did not survive in ME. swote.
c1320Sir Tristr. 2904 His frende schip wil y fle; Our on schal tine swete [rime To bete]. 13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 364 And alle þat lyuyes here-inne [to] lose þe swete. 1375Barbour Bruce xiii. 32 Sum held on loft, sum tynt the suet [rime feit]. a1400Morte Arth. 2145 By that swyftely one swarthe þe swett es by-leuede. Ibid. 3360 Many swayne wiþ þe swynge has the swette leuede. c1470Henry Wallace iii. 194 The Scottis on fute gert mony loiss the suete [rime feit]. 1513Douglas æneis i. iii. 10 Quhar that the vailȝeand Hector lowsit the sweit [rime spreit] On Achillis speir. Ibid. vii. ix. 130 About hym fell down deid, and lost the sueit [rime spreit] Mony of the hyrd men.
II.
2. a. Moisture excreted in the form of drops through the pores of the skin, usually as a result of excessive heat or exertion, also of certain emotions, or of the operation of sudorific medicines; sensible perspiration.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 305 For rednes tuk hyme sic abaysinge, Þat þe swet til his fete ran. a1400–50Wars Alex. 3790 All ware þai swollen of þe swete & sweltid on þe son. 1485Caxton St. Wenefr. 4 Wypyng her visage and clensynge it fro the duste and swette. 1508Dunbar Flyting 202 Ane caprowsy barkit all with sweit. 1533Bellenden Livy iii. ix. (S.T.S.) I. 282 Als sone as his govne was dicht fra suete and duste of pow[d]er. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 255 Soft on the flourie herb I found me laid In Balmie Sweat, which with his Beames the Sun Soon dri'd. 1693Dryden Juvenal i. 253 A cold Sweat stands in drops on ev'ry part. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. iv. viii, The cold sweat melted from their limbs. 1822–7Good Study Med. (1829) V. 549 The matter of sweat and that of insensible perspiration are nearly the same. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. vii, His face, all spattered with dirt and lined with sweat. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 725 The sweat does not appear on the foot of which the nerve is cut.
b. In phr. the sweat of (one's) brow († brows), face, etc., expressing toil (cf. 9): after Gen. iii. 19.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 51 Þei ben tauȝt to lyue in swet of here body bi comaundement of god. 1535Coverdale Gen. iii. 19 In the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate thy bred. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. Pref. (1580) A vij b, Who would trauaile and toile with the sweate of his browes? 1621R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie (1877) 136 Liue on the sweat of others browes. 1643Trapp Comm. Gen. ii. 15 It was after his fall laid upon him as a punishment, Gen. iii. 19. to eat his bread in the sweat of his nose. [1718Prior Solomon iii. 362 E'er yet He earns his Bread, a-down his Brow, Inclin'd to Earth, his lab'ring Sweat must flow.] 1779Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 257 You are entitled to some happiness, for you have earned it with the sweat of your brow. 1816Southey Ess. (1832) I. 179 When he receives his daily wages for the sweat of his brow. 1886‘Sarah Tytler’ Buried Diamonds xxvi, A day laborer, who could..earn enough by the sweat of his brow to keep his wife and sick daughter from starving.
c. bloody sweat: (a) that of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: see Luke xxii. 44.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 249 b, That moost paynfull agony of his blody swet. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, By thyne agony and bloudy sweate..Good lorde deliuer us. [1701Stanhope Pious Breathings vii. vii. (1704) 329 The Sweats of blood, which streamed from thy holy body.] 1819Shelley Cenci i. i. 113 Tears bitterer than the bloody sweat of Christ.
transf.1594Kyd Cornelia i. 183 Warre..Which yet, to sack vs, toyles in bloody sweat T'enlarge the bounds of conquering Thessalie.
(b) Path.: see hæmatidrosis.
1848Dunglison Med. Lex. 1876[see hæmatidrosis].
3. a. A condition or fit of sweating as a result of heat, exertion, or emotion; diaphoresis.
† breathing sweat: see breathing ppl. a. d. cold sweat, sweating accompanied by a feeling of cold, esp. as induced by fear or the like; freq. in phr. in a cold sweat (also fig.). Cf. sense 10.
c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxii. (1859) 25 Yf thou myghtest dayes two or thre Haue such a swete, it wold auayle the. c1420Avow. Arth. xlii, That heuy horse on him lay, He squonet in that squete. c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 2044 My body all in swet began for to shake. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 3 b, Sodenly a deadly and burnyng sweate inuaded their bodyes. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxv. (1887) 132 The rule is, change apparell after sweat. 1617Moryson Itin. iii. 84 In Summer time this kind of lodging is vnpleasant, keeping a man in a continuall sweat from head to foote. 1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 25 They hear him cuff about the Bed and Bedpolls, and crying out in a cold Sweat. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 87 An Ague very violent; the Fit held me seven Hours, cold Fit, and hot, with faint Sweats after it. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest iv, I turned all of a cold sweat in a minute. 1840Lytton Money (ed. 2) iii. vi. 94 ‘Poor fellow! He'll be ruined in a month.’..‘I'm in a cold sweat.’ 1853Kingsley Hypatia xiii. 164 His knees knocked together; a faint sweat seemed to melt every limb. 1864Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) III. 211 A heap of blankets that kept me in a sweat. 1905Brit. Med. Jrnl. 25 Feb. 406 He had a shaking chill followed by a sweat. 1941C. Mackenzie Red Tapeworm xii. 153 He would..have broken out in a cold sweat at the thought of what might have happened. 1966C. Aird Relig. Body xvii. 158 Cousin Harold must have been in a cold sweat in case his father died before he got to Cullingoak.
†b. = sweating-sickness. Obs.
a1517in G. P. Scrope Castle Combe (1852) 294 The wyche freer dyyd of the swet in my howse. 1551Edw. VI Lit. Rem. (Roxb.) II. 329 At this time cam the sweat into London, wich was more vehement then the old sweat. 1576Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 164 The English Sweat, the accident of which disease is sowning and grievous paine at the heart, joyned with a byting at the Stomacke. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 5 That sair seiknes, named the sueit of Britannie. a1614D. Dyke Myst. Self-deceiving (ed. 8) 26 Thus it was in that great Sweat in the time of King Edward. 1661J. Childrey Brit. Baconica 123 There was a fourth sweat between the years 1517 and 1551.
4. A fit of sweating caused for a specific purpose.
a. as a form of medicinal treatment or to reduce one's weight. (In quot. 1779 used jocularly.)
1632B. Jonson Magn. Lady iii. iv, To clense his body, all the three high wayes; That is, by Sweat, Purge, and Phlebotomy. 1779G. Keate Sketches fr. Nat. (1790) II. 60 Paying my half-crown, I took a sweat, on one of the snug superannuated benches [in a hot ballroom]. 1780Cowper Progr. Err. 221 He..Prepares for meals as jockies take a sweat. 1807P. Gass Jrnl. 219 Yesterday we gave him an Indian sweat, and he is some better to-day. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. v. 418/2 To hunt three days a-week, and shoot the other three, by way of a moderate sweat.
b. A run given to a horse (often in a coat) as part of his training for a race.
1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4149/4 A 12 Stone Plate..will be run for..by Hunters..that..have [not] been kept in Sweats above 12 weeks before the day of Running. 1737[see sweat v. 4 b]. 1828Sporting Mag. XXIII. 106 The management of a Flighty Horse in his exercise or sweat. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. i. vi. §6. 335/1 The conclusion of the second preparation should be a severe sweat.
c. A long training run for schoolboys. Public School slang.
1916E. F. Benson David Blaize xiv. 274 You brutes have been having an innocent happy sweat along the road. 1924Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 93 For the juniors, a shortish course..while Packman lunged Big Side across the inland and upland ploughs, for proper sweats. 1983W. Blunt Married to Single Life iv. 62 Long melancholy ‘sweats’ (runs) over the downs [at Marlborough].
5. transf. Something resembling sweat; drops of moisture exuded from or deposited on the surface of a body; an exudation.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 269 The snowe þat lieþ vppon Alpes þat brekeþ out on sweet. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 294 The swette of heauen, or as it were a certeyne spettyl of the starres. 1616W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. ii. 2 The Mvses friend (gray-eyde Aurora) yet Held all the Meadowes in a cooling sweat. a1631Donne Elegies viii. 1 The sweet sweat of Roses in a Still. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. vii. (1686) 19 The sea was but the sweat of the Earth. 1712Blackmore Creation ii. 66 The fragrant Trees..Owe all their Spices to the Summer's Heat, Their gummy Tears, and odoriferous Sweat. 1788M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) I. 428 A serious sweat over the mountain. 1847L. Hunt Jar Honey ix. (1848) 116 The pleasant meadows sadly lay In chill and cooling sweats.
6. A process of sweating or being sweated; exudation, evaporation, or deposit of moisture, fermentation, partial fusion, etc., as practised in various industries.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 125 Let shock take sweate, least gofe take heate. 1707Mortimer Husb. 115 Those [beans] that are to be kept are not to be thrashed till March, that they have had a thorough sweat in the Mow. 1765Museum Rust. III. 225 The same barley..will not malt alike well at all times:..take it as soon as it is housed, it comes well, but whilst it is in its sweat, by no means. 1813Vancouver Agric. Devon 240 After undergoing the first sweat, [they] should be ground, pressed, fermented, and casked a-part from each other. 1843Florist's Jrnl. (1846) IV. 220 There will be found to have commenced a process of fermentation, technically called a ‘sweat’. 1876Schultz Leather Manuf. 23 The American process is called cold sweat.
†7. A medicine for inducing sweat; a sudorific, diaphoretic. Obs.
1655Culpepper, etc. Riverius i. i. 3 The custom of taking Purges, Sweats, Diureticks, or provokers of Urine. 1681Ashmole Diary 6 Apr. in Mem. (1717) 64, I took my usual Sweat, which made me well. Ibid. 2 Oct. 65, I took my Sweat for Prevention of the Gout. a1776R. James Diss. Fevers (1778) 75 Thus much cannot be said with respect to any other vomit, any other purge, or any other sweat.
8. U.S. Name for a gambling game played with three dice. (Cf. sweat-cloth in 11.)
1894Maskelyne Sharps & Flats 253.
III. 9. fig. a. Hard work; violent or strenuous exertion; labour, toil; pains, trouble. arch.
a1300Cursor M. 921 (Cott.) Of erth þou sal, wit suete and suinc, Win þat þou sal ete and drinc. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 1241 With swink & swet Hiddir þai come & trawall gret. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 259 Þer ben sum men þat lyven here in swete and bisynesse. 1533Gau Richt Vay 93 Lat wsz notht liff of the sweyt and blwid of the pwir. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 94 The Oxe hath therefore stretch'd his yoake in vaine, The Ploughman lost his sweat. 1610― Temp. ii. i. 160 All things in common Nature should produce Without sweat or endeuour. 1642Rogers Naaman 100 All well affected Christians would be loth to lose their labour and sweat, till they haue enjoyed the promise. 1751Chambers Cycl. s.v. Approach, The curve of equable Approach..has caused some sweat among analysts. 1821Byron Cain i. i, Who bids The Earth yield nothing to us without sweat. 1879J. D. Long æneid ix. 598 They recognize the spoils the Volscians bring,..and, regained At such a sweat, their own insignia.
b. old sweat: see old a. E. 4.
10. a. A state of impatience, irritation, anxiety, or the like, such as induces sweat; a flurry, hurry, fume. Chiefly Sc. and U.S.
1715Pennecuik Descr. Tweeddale, etc. 139 This put our Conjurer in a deep Sweet, who now had only one Shift left him, which was this, [etc.]. 1753J. Collier Art Torment., Gen. Rules 216 You may talk in such a manner of the pleasure you enjoyed in their absence, as will put your husband in a sweat for you. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn xx. 200 He was in a sweat to get to the Indian Ocean right off. 1895H. Watson in Chap Book III. 502, I passed the half-hour that ensued in a sweat of conjecture, as to what was to fall out.
b. no sweat: see no a. 5 d.
IV.
11. attrib. and Comb., as sweat-drop, sweat labour, sweat-scraper, sweat-secretion, sweat-stain; spec. = ‘exciting or relating to the secretion of sweat’, as sweat-absorber, sweat apparatus, sweat canal, sweat centre, sweat coil, sweat fibre, sweat nerve; sweat-dried, sweat-marked, sweat-shining, sweat-soaked, sweat-stained, sweat-wet adjs.; also sweat-band, (a) a band of leather or other substance forming a lining of a hat or cap for protection against the sweat of the head; (b) in Sport, a strip of material worn around the (fore)head or wrist to absorb perspiration; sweat-bath, a steam-bath or hot-air bath, esp. among N. American Indians; cf. sweat-house 1; sweat-bee, a name for the small bees of the family Andrenidæ; sweat-box, (a) a narrow cell in which a prisoner is confined (slang); also U.S., a room in which a prisoner undergoes intensive questioning (see quot. 1931); (b) a box in which hides are sweated; (c) a large box in which figs are placed to undergo a ‘sweat’; (d) transf. and fig., spec. a heated compartment in which perspiration is induced, to encourage weight loss, etc.; sweat-cloth, a cloth or handkerchief used for wiping off sweat; a sudary; see also quot. 1872; sweat cooling Engin., a form of cooling in which the coolant is passed through a porous wall and evenly distributed over the surface, which is cooled by its evaporation; hence sweat-cooled ppl. a.; sweat-cyst Path., a cyst resulting from some disorder of the sweat-glands; sweat-duct Anat., the duct of a sweat-gland, by which the sweat is conveyed to the surface of the skin; sweat equity U.S., an interest in a property earned by a tenant who contributes his labour to its upkeep or renovation; sweat flap, a leather flap in harness, for protecting the rider's leg from the sweat of the horse; sweat-gland Anat., each of the numerous minute coiled tubular glands just beneath the skin which secrete sweat; sweat heat Gardening, the heat at which fermentation takes place; sweat-hog U.S. slang, a difficult student singled out in school or college for special instruction; † sweat-hole, = sweat-pore; sweat-leather, (a) a leather sweat-band in a hat or cap; also sweat lining; (b) = sweat-flap; sweat-lodge, = sweat-house 1; sweat-orifice = sweat-pore; sweat pants chiefly U.S., trousers of thick cotton cloth worn by athletes, esp. before or after strenuous exercise; tracksuit trousers; sweat-pit, † (a) the arm-pit exuding sweat (obs. nonce-use); (b) in Tanning, a pit in which hides are sweated, a sweating-pit; sweat-pore Anat., each of the pores of the skin formed by the openings of the sweat-ducts; sweat-rag (slang), any cloth used for wiping off sweat, or worn round the head to keep sweat out of the eyes; sweat-rash Path., an eruption caused by obstruction of the sweat-pores; sweat-room, a room in which tobacco is sweated; sweat root, Polemonium reptans (Dunglison Med. Lex. 1857); sweat rug a rug put on a horse after exercise; sweat-shirt orig. U.S., a loose shirt; spec. a long-sleeved, high-necked pullover shirt of thick cotton cloth (usu. with a fleecy lining), worn by athletes to avoid taking cold before or after exercise (cf. sweater 7 b); hence sweat-shirted a.; sweat-shop orig. U.S., a workshop in a dwelling-house, in which work is done under the sweating system (or, by extension, under any system of sub-contract); also fig. and attrib.; sweat-stock Tanning, a collective term for hides which are being or have been sweated (see sweat v. 13); sweat-suit orig. U.S., an athlete's suit consisting of a sweat-shirt and sweat-pants; † sweat-sweet a. nonce-wd., having a sweet exudation; sweat vesicle Path., = sweat-cyst; sweat-vessel Anat., = sweat-duct; sweat-weed, marsh mallow, Althæa officinalis (Billings Med. Dict. 1890). See also sweat-house.
1956S. Beckett Malone Dies 93 A *sweat-absorber for the armpit.
1883F. T. Roberts Handbk. Med. (ed. 5) 960 Affections of the *sweat-apparatus.
1891Pall Mall G. 28 Sept. 2/3 An American chemist..threatens us with lead-poisoning from the ‘*sweat-band’. 1956R. H. Applewhaite Lawn Tennis i. 12 Sweatbands..are worn round the wrist to prevent perspiration running down the arms into the hands. 1977J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running xii. 134 When I started running, I saw a lot of runners wearing sweatbands, so after sweat had dripped into my eyes a few times I went out and bought one.
1877S. Powers Tribes of California xxvi. 244 [The Shasta Indians] have no assembly chamber..; nothing but a kind of oven large enough that one person may stretch himself therein and enjoy a *sweat-bath. 1921J. Hastings Encycl. Relig. & Ethics XII. 128/2 When we turn to the Old World, we find a striking resemblance to the American customs in Herodotus's description of the use of the sweat-bath among the Scythians as a means of purification, after mourning. 1963E. Waugh Let. Sept. in C. Sykes Evelyn Waugh (1975) xxvi. 439, I have sat in a ‘sweat-bath’ and been severely massaged. 1965S. G. Lawrence 40 Yrs. on Yukon Telegraph xiv. 75 They [sc. some Indians] stayed over a day and all the old men took sweat baths.
1894U.S. Dept. Agric., Div. Veg. Physiol. & Path. Bulletin v. 79 (Cent. Dict., Suppl.) The *sweat bees of the genus Halictus and Andrena.
1870U.S. Navy Gen. Orders & Circulars (1887) 97 He was..gagged and confined in a *sweat-box of such dimensions that it was impossible to sit down. 1888W. B. Churchward Blackbirding in S. Pacific 28 This sweat-box is a sort of cell in the lowest part of the ship, pitch dark, and hot as hell. 1890Barrère & Leland Slang Dict., Sweat-box, the cell where prisoners are confined on arrest previous to being brought up for examination before the magistrate. 1895Pop. Sci. Monthly XLVI. 345 When sympathetic visitors crowded around his sweatbox. 1897Chicago Tribune 10 July 1/4 The upper gallery commonly known as the ‘sweat box’ in regular theaters. 1900Yearbk. U.S. Dept. Agric. 94 After the figs were dried they were placed in sweat boxes holding about 200 pounds each, where they were allowed to remain for two weeks, to pass through a sweat. 1901‘J. Flynt’ World of Graft 102 He was copped out on suspicion. They put him in the sweat-box, made him cough, an' you know the rest. 1931Z. Chafee et al. in Rep. Nat. Comm. Law Observance & Enforcement (U.S.) ii. 38 The original ‘sweat box’ used during the period following the Civil War..was a cell in close proximity to a stove, in which a scorching fire was built and fed with old bones, pieces of rubber shoes, etc., all to make great heat and offensive smells, until the sickened and perspiring inmate of the cell confessed in order to get released. 1973‘H. Howard’ Highway to Murder ii. 28, I ought to stick you in the sweat box until you told me the name of your client. 1974J. Engelhard Horsemen vi. 38, I never go in a sweatbox... I lose all the weight I want playing tennis.
1890Billings Med. Dict., *Sweat canal, excretory duct of a sweat-gland.
Ibid., *Sweat centre. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 200 The effect of this [accumulation of carbonic acid in the blood] being to stimulate the sweat centres.
1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 329 The *sweat-cloth, a cloth marked with figures, and used by gamblers with dice. 1894Athenæum 24 Feb. 239/3 The appearance of the sweat-cloth is a very characteristic mark.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 741 An uninterrupted series of changes in the *sweat-coils was observed from the beginning up to the end of the disease.
1948Technical Publ. Amer. Inst. Mining & Metall. Engineers No. 2343. Class E. 1 In designing a *sweat cooled part it is imperative to assure a given rate of flow of coolant.
Ibid., A less orthodox method consists of making the part to be cooled of a porous material, so that the cooling fluid can be forced through the pores... This method, referred to as ‘*sweat cooling’, was proposed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in September 1944. 1969E. C. Robertson Now Bks. Rocket Motors iv. 29 Many devices have been tried to keep the walls of the chamber cool and techniques have ranged from sweat cooling..to the one that is most common today.
1898Hutchinson Archives Surgery IX. 160 My patient had been liable to unilateral sweating of the face... The vesicles or little cysts..varied in size from pins' heads to peas... There could be little doubt that these were *sweat-cysts.
1885B. Harte Maruja iii, As he groomed the *sweat-dried skin of the mustang.
1776Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad 304 Fell the hot *sweat-drops as he champt the rein. 1817Byron Mazeppa xi, And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain Upon the courser's bristling mane.
1881Huxley Elem. Physiol. v. (new ed.) 114 Cells lining the *sweat duct.
1973Time 16 July 43 A group of poor, racially mixed tenants took over a nearby city-owned tenement, stripped the shabby interiors and are building modern apartments to replace the narrow, cold-water flats... In return for their ‘*sweat equity’, the builder-residents will make payments as low as $80 per month and ultimately own the building as a cooperative. 1980B. Vila This Old House v. 83/1 The calculations you make in a sweat equity job are different from those in a project in which you are employing professionals.
1908Animal Managem. 182 The *sweat flap of the girth.
1845Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. 423 The *sweat-glands exist under almost every part of the cutaneous surface.
1843Florist's Jrnl. (1846) IV. 225 A ‘*sweat heat’ of from 85° to 95° temperature.
1976Senior Scholastic 4 May 41 John Travolta..[is] back in the classroom..as the leader of the *sweathogs in ABC's Welcome Back, Kotter. 1979Brooks & Marsh Compl. Directory Prime Time Network TV Shows, 1946–Present 673/1 Gabe's ‘sweathogs’ were the outcasts of the academic system, streetwise but unable or unwilling to make it in normal classes.
14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 679/16 Hic porus, a *swetholle. 1527Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters F j b, [Veronica water] is good to be dronke for the flyenge sore, for it openeth the swete holes. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 368 Nature striveth to thrust out her venemous enemy..by the sweatholes.
a1674Traherne Chr. Ethics (1675) 261 All the *sweat labour of the martyrs, all the persecutions and endeavours of the apostles. 1970Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Nov. 5/1 Little by little they cleared each acre with axe and cross-cut saw. It was slow, sweat-labor.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. s.v. Sweat Rolling Machine, The *sweat-leather lining of hats.
Ibid., Sweat Sewing Machine, a machine for sewing the *sweat lining in hats.
1887Amer. Soc. Psych. Research Dec. 141 When persons are taking a bath in the *sweat-lodge. 1973New Society 19 July 137/2 A ‘sweat lodge’, or hut fashioned from rocks, branches and a sacred blanket. The sauna-like action of a fire inside the hut helps purify his soul along with his body. 1977Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 55/3 She learned of the sweat lodge and the sacred pipe ceremony and the Sun Dance while researching her Indian history book, and then began to understand them as part of the present.
1914D. H. Lawrence Prussian Officer 20 His *sweat⁓marked horse swishing its tail.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 308 The *sweat-nerves leave the spinal cord by the anterior roots.
1957H. Roosenberg Walls came tumbling Down v. 127 They had noticed that Nell's green skirt was badly worn—would she try on these *sweat pants and see if they fitted? 1978R. B. Parker Judas Goat vi. 33 My blue sweat pants worn stylishly with the ankle zippers open.
1708T. Ward Terræ-filius v. 27 The Effluvia that arises from her *Sweat-Pits. 1852C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 323 Eight stone sweat-pits, with pointed arches and flues.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 742 The obstruction at the orifice of the *sweat-pore.
1843‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase i. xi. 73 This luxury..was used only as a ‘*sweat rag’, and not ‘as a nose-cloth’. 1902H. Lawson Children of Bush 9 He wiped his face, neck, and forehead with a big speckled ‘sweat-rag’. 1930Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 28 Mar. 7/5 Making a swab with a sweat-rag, he attempted to stop the flow of blood. 1953X. Fielding Stronghold 256 The dirty old sweat-rag which he had worn round his head for the last three months. 1974D. Stuart Prince of My Country v. 32 Father puts down his knife and wipes his face with the sweatrag at his neck.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 586 ‘Red gum’, ‘teething rash’, usually regarded as a *sweat-rash.
1971M. Brander Horseman's Vade Mecum 439 *Sweat⁓rug, a string rug put on under a reversed top rug when a horse has been sweating. 1978‘F. Parrish’ Sting of Honeybee i. 11 She had taken off his saddle and put on a sweat-rug.
1908Animal Managem. 60 *Sweat scrapers are long flexible blades of smooth metal.
1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 666 Over markedly ichthyotic parts, *sweat-secretion is usually diminished.
1923D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 172 And dance, and dance, forever dance, with breath half sobbing in dark, *sweat-shining breasts.
1929Sears, Roebuck Catal. Spring/Summer 394 Every Man and Boy Wants A *Sweat Shirt. 1938E. Hemingway Fifth Column (1939) 291 He'd pull on a rubber shirt over a couple of jerseys and a big sweat shirt over that. 1948Daily Express 4 Sept. 2/5 (caption) The fluffy blonde in pale lemon sweat shirt. 1958J. & W. Hawkins Death Watch (1959) i. 16 She was wearing jeans, moccasins and a white sweat shirt. 1978L. Heren Growing up on The Times ix. 307 Another [young lad] exchanged his jeans and sweatshirt for a white dinner jacket and plum⁓coloured trousers.
1977R. Barnard Blood Brotherhood i. 14 The be-jeaned and *sweat-shirted figure.
1892Charities Rev. Jan. 115 What relaxation or excitement can a car-driver or a *sweat-shop tailor get except by drinking?
1895Westm. Gaz. 2 Nov. 2/3 All but fifteen of the 385 wholesale clothing manufacturers in New York have their goods made in ‘*sweat shops’. 1900F. H. Stoddard Evol. Eng. Novel 172 The contract system—the familiar sweat-shop system of more modern days. 1903Bond of Brotherhood (Calgary, Alberta) 12 June 4/1 Healthy niggers sound in wind and limb well broke to handcuffs, two pair of genuine sweat shop overalls given with each piece of ebony. 1906O. C. Malvery Soul Market xi. 185 Under the ‘Sweat-shop’ Law of the State of New York, the manufacture of articles of wearing apparel is now specifically forbidden in any tenement house without a license.
1938Times Lit. Suppl. 3 Dec. 767/2 The story of two Jews who, in youth, work in the same tailoring sweat-shop. 1959Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 13/8, I cannot really think that he should want my job. Whitehall, and certainly Downing Street, is nothing but a sweatshop. 1972Bookseller 4 Mar. 1476/1 If 28 jobs were costing only {pstlg}6,000 a year..then the N.B.L. were running a sweat shop.
1944K. Levis in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 429 Our shirts *sweat-soaked under the midday sun. 1973‘R. MacLeod’ Burial in Portugal i. 29 His sweat-soaked shirt was sticking to his back.
1973R. Busby Pattern of Violence vi. 96 There was a dark *sweat stain down the back of his shirt.
1932W. Faulkner Light in August ii. 28 Byron watched him standing there and looking at the men in *sweat⁓stained overalls. 1975H. R. F. Keating Remarkable Case i. 3 His jacket and trousers were..worn and sweat⁓stained.
1882Paton in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 384/1 Among non-acid tanners the plumping of *sweat stock in which there is no lime is secured in the weak acid liquors of the colouring and handling pits.
1930L. W. Olds Track Athletics & Cross Country i. 4 *Sweat suits should be fleece-lined, washable and worn for warmth rather than a flashy appearance. 1951I. Shaw Troubled Air x. 158 Archer lay on the mat in a sweatsuit. 1979J. P. R. Williams JPR iv. 91 An Adidas sweat-suit keeping out the elements.
1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. 148 The *sweat-sweet Civit.
1901Osler Princ. & Pract. Med. i. (ed. 4) 17 Cases that have not been carefully sponged may shew *sweat vesicles.
1682T. Gibson Anat. (1697) 12 These *Sweat-vessels arise from the glands that the skin is every where beset with.
a1963S. Plath Crossing Water (1971) 58 Tangled in the *sweat-wet sheets I remember the bloodied chicks.
▸ In pl. colloq. (orig. U.S.). Clothing (esp. trousers or an outfit) made of thick cotton, usually with a fleecy lining, used esp. as sportswear and designed to allow freedom of movement. Cf. sweat pants n. at Compounds 2, sweat-suit n. at Compounds 2.
1956Cavalier Daily (Univ. of Virginia) 26 Sept. 3/5–6 A regular Monday afternoon workout in sweats to iron out the kinks incurred in the game of the previous Saturday. 1978G. A. Sheehan Running & Being xii. 167 They are looking around for runners with fancy sweats. 1982Times 27 Apr. 10/3 The advantage of sweats is that they bridge the gap between casual and formal. 2004S. Krantz Vivian x. 66 You throw on your favorite sweats and the first clean tank top you can get your hands on.
▪ II. sweat, v.|swɛt|
Forms: 1 swætan, 3 swæten, sweten, 3 sing. pres. ind. swet, 3–6 swete, (4 squete), 4–5 suete, sweete, (5 sweet, swett), 5–6 Sc. sweit, (6 swheate), 6–7 sweate, swet, 6– sweat; 8 Sc., 9 dial. swat. pa. tense 1 swætte, 3–5 swatte, 3, 7 swate, (4 squat), 4–6, 8 Sc., 9 Sc. and dial. swat, 5 suatte; 3–7 swette, 4 suet(t, (squette), 4–7 swet, 6 swett, 6–9 sweat, 7 sweatt, sweate; 4 sweted, 7– sweated. pa. pple. 3 -swæt (see besweat), 3–6 swat, 4–7 swet, 5 swette, 5–7 swett, 6–8 sweat; 5 sweted, 7– sweated; (7 in rhyme, 9 pseudo-arch. sweaten).
[OE. swǽtan, f. swát swote. Cf. Fris. swêt, swette, switte, MLG. swêten (LG. also swetten), MDu. swêten (Du. zweeten), OHG. sweiȥȥan (MHG. sweiȥen, G. schweissen in technical use), ON. sveita (Sw. svetta, Da. svede).
Avoided in refined speech in the ordinary physical senses; cf. quot. 1791 s.v. perspire v. 3.]
I.
1. intr. To emit or excrete sweat through the pores of the skin; to perspire (sensibly).
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xiv. [xix.] (1890) 216 He swa swiðe swætte swa in swole middes sumeres. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 290 Ᵹa him þonne to his neste & bewreo hine wearme & licge swa oþ he wel swæte. c1205Lay. 19797 Of þan watere he dronc & sone he gon sweten. a1225Ancr. R. 360 Hwon þet heaued swet wel, þet lim þet ne swet nout, nis hit vuel tokne? c1290St. Mary 174 in S. Eng. Leg. 266 Þe Monek swatte for drede. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 7 His hakeney which þat was al pomely grys So swatte [v.rr. swette, swete], that it wonder was to see. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 903 Whon he sweted In his gret Agonye. c1400Beryn 2007 Beryn..for angir swet. a1450Knt. de la Tour xciv, They saide vnto hym that he shulde be all hole in hasti tyme after that he had slepte and swette. 1533More Apol. 204 Fryth labored so sore that he swette agayne, in..wrytyng agaynst the blessed sacrament. a1547Surrey in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 217 Such was my heate, When others frese then did I swete. a1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 577 Wald thou nocht sweit for schame? 1590Tarlton's News Purgat. (1844) 54 At this sodaine sight [I] fell into a great feare, in somuch that I sweat in my sleep. 1657Reeve God's Plea 192 Andreas Maro Brixianus made verses, till his brows sweatt. 1667N. Fairfax in Phil. Trans. II. 547 She affirm'd, she never swet in her life. 1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1599/4 Saturday was allotted them to sweat and wash in the Royal Bagnio. 1705Addison Italy, Pesaro 165 We were sometimes Shivering on the Top of a bleak Mountain, and a little while after Sweating in a warm Valley. 1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. iii, Mungo's mare stood still and swat wi' fright. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 148 If he sweat out well..it betokens him in good Wind. 1741–2Gray Agrippina 97 Have his limbs Sweat under iron harness? 1821Byron Cain iii. i. 109, I have toil'd, and till'd, and sweaten in the sun. 1829E. Everett Orat. & Sp. (1850) II. 34 He sweat plentifully during the night, and the fever left him.
2. a. trans. To emit or exude through the pores of the skin, as or like sweat. Also with out.
Freq. to sweat blood in reference to the bloody sweat of Jesus (see sweat n. 2 c).
[In OE., what is exuded is expressed by a dative or instrumental (cf. 10), repr. occas. in ME. by of; e.g.:—
a1000in Cockayne Narratiunculæ (1861) 35 Hi..fleoð and blode hi swætað. c1275Passion our Lord 378 in O.E. Misc. 48 Pilates..hyne heyghte bete, Þat al his swete likame of blode gon to swete. ]
a1225Ancr. R. 110 He..deiȝede ȝeond al his bodi, ase he ear ȝeond al his bodi deaðes swot swette. a1310in Wright Lyric P. xxv. 70 Love the made blod to sueten. c1386Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 522 She sat al coold and feeled no wo, It made hire nat a drope for to sweete. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) i. xxii. (1859) 25 Thou hast not swette out of thyn eye a tere. a1536Tindale Brief Declar. Sacram. B j, He sweat water and bloud of a very agonye conceyued of his passyon so nye at hande. 1590Lodge Rosalind (1592) M ij, What the Oxe sweates out at the plough, he fatneth at the cribbe. 1602Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 42 Ile sweate my blood out, till I have him safe. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 245 It is sweated out as fast as one drinks it. 1700Dryden Cock & Fox 27 With Exercise she sweat ill Humors out. 1713Young Last Day i. 184 Thou, who..hast..sweat blood. 1854S. Dobell Balder xix. 80 These..or crouched in dark and foul Discovery, or swat a cancerous pool Of poison, and lay hid. 1860Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 325 The slug sweats out its slimy house on the pear-leaf.
b. fig. To give forth or get rid of as by sweating; slang, to spend, lay out (money). Also with away, out. In slang phrases: to sweat one's guts out (see quot. 1890); to sweat blood, (a) to exert oneself to the utmost; (b) to be terrified.
1592Greene Disput. 1 Hath your smooth lookes linckt in some Nouice to sweate for a fauour all the byte in his Bounge? c1610Women Saints 140, I could not sweate out from my hart that bitternes of sorrow. [1667Dryden & Dk. Newcastle Sir M. Mar-all v. ii, If my shoulders had not paid for thi fault, my purse must have sweat blood for't.] 1727De Foe Hist. Appar. iv. (1840) 28 A set of human bodies..that could live always in a hot bath, and neither sweat out their souls, or melt their bodies. 1791Beckford Pop. Tales Germans II. 80 His intractable pupil had entirely sweated away his Creed during the night! 1890Barrère & Leland Slang Dict., Sweat one's guts out, a vulgar expression, meaning to work very hard. 1911G. S. Porter Harvester xvii. 405 He just sweat blood to pacify her, but he couldn't make it. 1924D. H. Lawrence in M. Magnus Mem. Foreign Legion 53, I sweat blood every time anybody comes through the door. 1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xii. 228 It makes one sick to see half a dozen men sweating their guts out to dig a trench.., when some easily devised machine would scoop the earth out in a couple of minutes. 1950‘J. Tey’ To love & be Wise xiii. 163, I expect he sweats blood over his writing. He has no imagination. 1961R. Jeffries Evidence of Accused v. 45 You sweated your guts out for months and finished your book, then the public looked the other way. 1973W. M. Duncan Big Timer xxi. 138, I was sitting there sweating blood when those damned cops arrived.
†c. intr. (fig.) To suffer waste or loss. Obs.
1533More Debell. Salem Wks. 1002/1 Hys soule is safe ynoughe, though hys purse may happe to sweate, if he bounde himself to prouide the timber at his own perill.
d. With off. To (cause to) lose (weight, etc.) through strenuous exercise; spec. in Boxing (see quot. 1955).
1895Kipling Day's Work (1898) 347, I sweated the beef off 'em, and then I sweated some muscle on to 'em. 1899― Stalky 129 We've sweated a stone and a half off him since we began. 1955F. C. Avis Boxing Dict. 110 Sweat off, to lose weight through perspiration caused by vapour baths, etc., in an effort to bring the body to the poundage required for a given championship grade. 1976Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 12 Nov. 27/5 The..finalist outboxed his opponent, who was weakened after sweating off six pounds during the week.
†3. To sweat upon; to wet, soak, or stain with sweat. Also with out. Obs.
1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. i, He dares tell 'hem, how many shirts he has sweat at tennis that weeke. 1607Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe iv. iii, I..lend Gentlemen holland shirts, and they sweat 'em out at tennis. 1807J. Barlow Columb. i. 42 Who now..indungeon'd lies, Sweats the chill sod and breathes inclement skies.
4. a. To cause to sweat; to put into a sweat.
With quots. 1748, 1764 cf. sweating vbl. n. 5.
1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 26 We commonly see the most part of men sweated to death with hote burning feauers. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iv. i, He should be purged, sweated, vomited, and starved, till he came to a sizeable bulk. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 6/2 They will sweat themselves for some Days, and so recover their Health. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xlvi, We should scour the hundreds, sweat the constable..and then reel soberly to bed. 1764Churchill Duellist iii. 378 To knock a tott'ring watchman down, To sweat a woman of the Town. a1776R. James Diss. Fevers (1778) 56 Sir Thomas continued the use of the Powder in smaller doses, which had the good effect of sweating him gently. 1808Compl. Grazier (ed. 3) 69 The tendency of animals to become fat is materially promoted by sweating them. 1841Catlin N. Amer. Ind. lviii. II. 225 The labouring man, who is using his limbs the greater part of his life in lifting heavy weights..sweats them with the weight of clothes which he has on him.
b. To give (a horse) a run for exercise.
1589[see sweating vbl. n. 1]. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 148 Those Horses which are sweat without Covering, or with a very thin one, should run a long Sweat.
c. slang. To subject (a prisoner, etc.) to close interrogation † or torture; to give the ‘third degree’ to (someone). Cf. sweat-box s.v. sweat n. 11.
1764Select Trials I. 285, I..had heard him say, that Capt. Clark was a very great Rascal; and at Admiral Knowles's Trial, he would sweat Capt. Clark if he was examined, and if he could not sweat him there, he would sweat him another way. 1892‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claim. xix. 194 It seems a piteous thing to sweat this poor ancient devil for a burglary he hadn't the least hand in. 1926J. Black You can't Win xviii. 260, I wasn't taken out of my cell and ‘sweated’ or third-degreed, or beaten up. 1979‘J. le Carré’ Smiley's People (1980) xix. 237 Probably Mikhel intercepted and read it... We could sweat him, but I doubt if it would help.
II.
5. a. intr. To exert oneself strongly, make great efforts; to work hard, toil, labour, drudge. Often with inf.
In early use freq. in collocation with swink.
c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxix. 285 Ðæm ðe nu on godum weorcum ne swæt and suiðe ne suinceð. a1300Cursor M. 1047 (Cott.) Adam..suanc and suet. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 585 Oþer..Þat swange & swat for long ȝore. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 121 We mowe nouþur swynke ne swete, such seknes vs eileþ. 1382Wyclif Eccl. ii. 11 The trauailes in whiche in veyn I hadde swat. a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 3, I haue swette and trauailed ful bisily and pertinacely. 1535Coverdale Eccl. ii. 20 To leaue his labours vnto another, yt neuer swett for them. 1632Milton L'Allegro 105 He..Tells how the drudging Goblin swet, To ern his Cream-bowle duly set. 1684Contempl. St. Man ii. iii. (1699) 154 Sweating and toiling for a small part of the Goods of this World. 1786Burns To Jas. Smith xvii, Some, lucky, find a flow'ry spot, For which they never toil'd nor swat. 1821Byron Sardan. i. i. 24 He sweats in palling pleasures. 1861Reade Cloister & H. xlvi, Lovers of money must sweat or steal.
b. To toil after, along, etc. in pursuit or the like; transf. (with up) to rise steeply.
1815Scott Guy M. xxxix, Some of them are always changing their ale-houses, so that they have twenty cadies sweating after them. 1856Kane Arctic Expl. I. xvi. 187 In about ten minutes, we were sweating along at eight miles an hour. 1904R. J. Farrer Garden Asia 139 The track sweats up through the woodland on to the open ground of the mountain.
c. spec. Formerly, in the tailoring trade, To work at home overtime.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 62/1 One couple..who were ‘sweating’ for a gorgeous clothes' emporium. 1889in Pall Mall G. 7 May 1/2 The school-boy working out of school hours, the tailor working out of shop hours was said to be ‘sweating’.
d. Cards. (U.S.) ‘To win a game by careful and watchful play, avoiding risks’ (Standard Dict.).
1907Hoyle's Games 411 Sweating out. Refusing to bid when nearly out, so as to get out by picking up a few points at a time.
6. trans.
a. To exact hard work from.
1821Byron Sardan. i. ii. 231, I have not..sweated them to build up pyramids.
b. spec. To employ in hard or excessive work at very low wages, esp. under a system of subcontract. See also sweated ppl. a. 2, sweating vbl. n. 2 b, 6 (sweating system).
1879Sims Social Kaleidoscope Ser. i. ix. 58 One master man employs a number of men and women at a weekly wage, and ‘sweats’ them to show his profit. 188719th Cent. Oct. 489 They declared that they were being ‘sweated’—that the hunger for work induced men to accept starvation rates.
7. a. trans. To work out; to work hard at; to get, make, or produce by severe labour. rare.
1589[? Lyly] Pappe w. Hatchet D ij, Let them but chafe my penne, & it shal sweat out a whole realme of paper. 1643Trapp Comm. Gen. iii. 19 This is a law laid upon all sorts to sweat out a poor living. 1649Milton Tenure Kings 3 Then comes the task to those Worthies which are the soule of that Enterprize, to bee swett and labour'd out amidst the throng and noises of vulgar and irrationall men. 1760H. Walpole Let. to Earl Strafford 7 June, Doddington stood before her [sc. the Spanish ambassadress]..sweating Spanish at her. 1817Byron Beppo lxxiv, Translating tongues he knows not even by letter, And sweating plays so middling, bad were better. 1822― Let. to Moore 27 Aug., Leigh Hunt is sweating articles for his new Journal.
b. Naut. To set or hoist (a sail, etc.) taut, so as to increase speed (also intr.); also with the ship as obj.
1890W. C. Russell Ocean Trag. I. iv. 73 You will still go on sweating—pray pardon this word in its sea sense..—your craft as though the one business of the expedition was to make the swiftest possible passage. 1895Outing (U.S.) XXVI. 46/2 Hoist up on the halyards and sweat up with the purchase. 1899W. C. Russell Ship's Adventure iv, Smedley..never sweated his yards fore and aft.
8. intr. To undergo severe affliction or punishment; to suffer severely. Often to sweat for it, to suffer the penalty, ‘get it hot’. Now rare or Obs.
[c1386Chaucer Miller's T. 516 Wel litel thynken ye vp on my wo That for youre loue I swete ther I go No wonder is thogh that I swelte and swete. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 7 Haue Napkins enow about you, here you'le sweat for 't.] 1612Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb v. i, Thou hadst wrongs, & if I live some of the best shall sweat fort. 1671J. Flavel Fount. Life ii. 4 He [sc. our Lord before the Incarnation] was never sensible of pains and tortures..tho' afterwards he groaned and sweat under them. 1755Smollett Quix. (1803) I. 77 It is odds but they..have us apprehended; and verily, if they do, before we get out of prison, we may chance to sweat for it.
fig.1647Trapp Marrow Gd. Authors in Comm. Ep. 603 The variety of meats, wherewith great mens tables usually sweat.
9. a. To suffer perturbation of mind; to be vexed; to fume, rage. Now rare or Obs.
a1400–50Wars Alex. 5325 ‘I swete’, quod þe swete kyng, ‘þat I na swerd haue’. 1662Dryden Wild Gallant i. i, I sweat to think of that Garret. 1735Pope Prol. Sat. 227, I ne'er with wits or witlings pass'd my days..Nor at Rehearsals sweat, and mouth'd, and cry'd. 1741Warburton Div. Legat. II. Pref. 10 The Press sweat with Controversy. 1846Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. II. 54/1 Germans had no objection to the bill of fare, but stamped and sweated to see the price of the dishes.
b. trans. With out, to await or endure anxiously or with unease. Esp. in phr. to sweat it out. colloq.
1876‘Mark Twain’ Tom Sawyer xx. 200 Well, it's a kind of a tight place for Becky Thatcher... Just..let her sweat it out! 1942E. Colby Army Talk 229 Sweat..is a synonym for wait. You sweat a man out when you are waiting for him. You ‘sweat out’ a chow line while waiting for your turn for the sergeant to put your food in the mess kit. 1945‘L. Lewis’ Birthday Murder (1951) xiii. 191, I haven't much time..but I'll sweat it out awhile. 1960News Chron. 29 Sept. 1 Mr. Khruschev is just sweating it out in New York for an announcement of a manned flight in orbit. 1976‘D. Fletcher’ Don't whistle ‘Macbeth’ 148, I had no intention of telling Hugo... Let him sweat that one out.
c. intr. With on, to await anxiously (an event or person); spec. in the game of lotto. Also transf., to be close to attaining, as in phr. to sweat on the top-line. slang (chiefly Austral.) orig. Mil.
1917A. G. Empey From Fire Step xix. 127 Sometimes you have fourteen numbers on your card covered and you are waiting for the fifteenth to be called. In an imploring voice you call out, ‘Come on, Watkins, chum, I'm sweating on ‘Kelly's Eye’.’ Ibid. 252 Sweating on leave. Impatiently waiting for your name to appear in orders for leave. 1919Athenæum 1 Aug. 695/2 ‘Sweating on the top line’ is to be within an ace of obtaining what you want. 1959S. J. Baker Drum 150 Sweat on, to wait, usually to wait anxiously (for something to happen). 1968S. L. Elliott Rusty Bugles in E. Hanger 3 Austral. Plays i. iv. 62 Wimpy sweats on me see..waits his chance..puts on a hut raid the other night and finds me mosquito net's not down and I lose my stripes.
d. intr. To experience discomfort through anxiety or unease (colloq.). In phr. don't sweat it (U.S. slang), don't worry.
1963Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 271 Don't sweat it means ‘don't worry about it’. 1973R. Hayes Hungarian Game xxxix. 234 ‘Hold off for a moment. I want to watch him sweat.’ ‘The guy's about to faint from pain.’ 1976N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone x. 238 Cutter reached over and covered her hand with his own, patted it. ‘Don't sweat it, kid,’ he said. ‘It's nothing.’ 1978D. Devine Sunk without Trace ix. 92 No point in being early. Let him sweat.
III. 10. a. intr. To exude, or to gather, moisture so that it appears in drops on the surface.
In OE. the matter exuded is expressed by a dative or instrumental: cf. 2.
c893ælfred Oros. iv. viii. 188 Mon ᵹeseah tweᵹen sceldas blode swætan. c1000ælfric Hom. (Th.) II. 162 Ða ᵹebroðra ða eodon..to ðam mercelse, and ᵹemetton ðone clud ða iu swætende. [c1290Michael 596 in S. Eng. Leg. 316 Þe sonne..makez þe wateres breþi upriȝt as þei scholden swete.] c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xvii. 80 If venym or puyson be broȝt in place whare þe dyamaund es, alsone it waxez moyst and begynnez to swete [orig. Fr. suer]. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 147/2 They wente and fonde the montaygne all swetyng. 1598Epulario L j b, Put them [sc. eggs] into the white embers..and when they sweat, they are rosted. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 42 The air being moist, the stones often sweat. 1731Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Winter, If Stone or Wainscot that has been used to sweat, (as it is call'd) be more dry in the Beginning of Winter. 1847Smeaton Builder's Man. 59 Plaster or mortar made with salt water, will always sweat with a moist atmosphere. 1870Eng. Mech. 11 Feb. 525/2 His object glass may have had a deposit formed between its component lenses, or in vulgar parlance ‘sweated’.
b. Said spec. of products to be stored, or substances in preparation, which are first set aside to exude their moisture.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. i. 486 The coriaunder leuis, lest hit [sc. the wheat] swete, Is put theryn. Ibid. ii. 424 So lette hem [sc. laurel berries] sething longe tyme swete. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §25 Make it in greatter hey-cockes, and to stande so one nyghte or more, that it maye vngiue and sweate. 1577B. Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 45 b, Good husbandes doo not lay it [sc. grass] vp in their Loftes, till suche time as it hath sweat in the Feelde. 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Garden (1626) 51 Lay..the longest keeping Apples..on dry straw,..that they may sweat. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Oats, Oats newly housed and thrashed, before they have sweat in the Mow. 1766Compl. Farmer s.v. Threshing, Beans and peas always thresh best after they have sweated in the mow. 1838Trans. Provinc. Med. & Surg. Assoc. ii. VI. 200 The apples [for Devonshire cider] are collected into heaps and allowed to sweat or pass into a state of fermentation. 1843Penny Cycl. XXV. 16/2 [The cut tobacco plants] are left to sweat for three or four days. 1852C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 327 Salted hides..require..rather longer to sweat.
†c. To undergo fusion, as metal: cf. 17. Obs.
1709T. Robinson Nat. Hist. Westmoreld. xi. 65 We put it [sc. the ore] into the great Furnace, where we let it lie sweating in a soft and slow Fire..until the taste and smell of Sulphur be quite gone off.
d. To exude nitroglycerine, as dynamite.
1900Westm. Gaz. 16 July 8/2 Sometimes the cordite ‘sweats,’..we put it in a warm place for a time, when the sweated substance is absorbed.
11. trans. To emit (moisture, etc.) in drops or small particles like sweat; to exude, distil. Also with out.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clx[i]v. (Bodl. MS.) lf. 231 b/1 Terebintus..is a tre þat sweteþ rosine. c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 1959 It longeth to flowres swhiche lycoure for to swete. c1450Mirk's Festial 166 Hard ston and þorne summe tyme swetyþe watyr. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 111 The Cedar sweateth out Rozen and Pitche. 1605Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 65 Greaze, that's sweaten [rime eaten] From the Murderers Gibbet, throw Into the Flame. 1607― Cor. v. iii. 196 It is no little thing to make Mine eyes to sweat compassion. 1638–56Cowley Davideis i. 236 The silver Moon with terrour paler grew, And neighb'ring Hermon sweated flowry dew. 1712Addison Spect. No. 415 ⁋3 The Earth..sweated out a Bitumen or natural kind of Mortar. 1884Roe Nat. Ser. Story viii, The clover was piled up.., to sweat out its moisture. 1891W. A. Jamieson Dis. Skin ii. (ed. 3) 19 Alkaline soaps, which improve when kept, because they sweat⁓out the excess of soda.
12. intr. To ooze out like sweat; to exude.
a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 39 Superflue watrenes swette out fro þe place þat was wonte for to file many lynnen cloþes putte atwix. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 174 They gather pytche whiche sweateth owte of the rockes. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vi. 99 But some particles thereof sweat through the Parenchyma into the Ventricles. 1744Berkeley Siris §38 This balsam, weeping or sweating through the bark. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 30 This alloy is next exposed to a heat just sufficient to melt the lead, which then sweats out..from the pores of the copper. 1884C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iii. 3/1 By applying heat too suddenly, the metals which fuse at lower degrees of heat, sweat out. 1884Marshall's Tennis Cuts 63 Blue stone dust being again spread over it to absorb the surplus tar, which is sure to ‘sweat out’ from time to time.
13. a. trans. To cause to exude moisture, force the moisture out of; spec. to subject to a process of sweating (see 10 b).
1686W. Harris tr. Lemery's Chem. ii. ix. (ed. 3) 404 Make a strong decoction of other Balm, and pour of it into the pot enough to swet it sufficiently. 1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 98 Extracting the Sap out of Planks for Ship-building, by sweating them in hot Sand. 1754Phil. Trans. XLVIII. 827 Some white marble lime; which was what they call sweated, that is wrapp'd in dung. 1826Art Brewing (ed. 2) 93 Taking the barley from the kiln, for the purpose of sweating it. 1836in Chambers' Edin. Jrnl. 31 Dec. 389 After the fish has been dried to that degree, or rather more, which we shall call thoroughly dried,..it is put up into one large pile, and left to stand for ten or twelve days, which is called sweating it. 1881Greener Gun 314 The stoving sweats the powder, and drives off any remaining moisture. 1882Paton in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 383/2 [Hides] are still sometimes, especially on the Continent, sweated, that is, they are laid in heaps and kept wet and warm.
b. Cookery. To heat (meat or vegetables, etc.) in a pan with fat or water, in order to extract the juices.
1877E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 452 Sweat, to, is not a pretty phrase, but it expresses clearly..the act of making meat yield its juices by being heated in a pan with little or no water... The heat applied must be low and slow. 1942[implied at sweating vbl. n. 3 c]. 1953N. Heaton Cassell's Cooking Dict. 171 Sweat, to heat gently to extract flavour. 1972Guardian 18 Aug. 11/3 Finely chop one large onion and two cloves garlic. Sweat these in a little oil in a thick saucepan.
14. slang. To deprive of or cause to give up something; to rob, ‘fleece’, ‘bleed’. Also transf. to rob (a vessel) of some of its contents.
1847W. Sk. Irel. 60 Yrs. Ago i. 14 On the 29th of July, 1784..They determined to amuse themselves by ‘sweating’ him, i.e., making him give up all his fire-arms. 1860Slang Dict., Sweat, to extract money from a person, to ‘bleed’, to squander riches. Bulwer. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Sweating the Purser, wasting his stores. Burning his candles, &c. 1869Conington tr. Horace's Sat., etc. (1874) 167 Kind to his wife, indulgent to his slave, He'd find a bottle sweated [Ep. ii. ii. 134 signo læso..lagœnæ] and not rave.
15. To lighten (a gold coin) by wearing away its substance by friction or attrition.
1785[see sweating vbl. n. 4]. 1796Wolcot (P. Pindar) Bozzy & Piozzi ii. 204 Wks. 1816 I. 278 His each vile sixpence that the world hath cheated, And his, the art that ev'ry guinea sweated. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. i, I suppose..you haven't been lightening any of these... You understand what sweating a pound means; don't you?
16. slang. To pawn.
c1800Irish Song, Nt. bef. Larry was Stretched 4 They sweated their duds till they riz it.
17. To subject (metal) to partial fusion; to fasten or join by applying heat so as to produce partial fusion; in Metallurgy, to heat so as to melt and extract an easily fusible constituent. (After G. schweissen.)
The 9th c. form gisuetit, glossing ‘ferruminatus’ (in Goetz Glossæ Latinogr. (1888) 579/58), is not certainly OE., and the instance 1575–6 s.v. sweating vbl. n. 3 may be only a casual borrowing from the Continent.
1884W. H. Wahl Galvanoplastic Manip. 112 (Cent. Dict.) The junction of the coil wires with the segments of the commutator is made through large copper plugs, which are sweated in to secure perfect contact. 1890Times 6 Dec. 12/4 It is admitted that ‘a few’ screws did work loose... It [sc. the defect] was remedied by sweating in the screws.
Hence ˈsweatable a. rare, capable of becoming sweated labour or a sweated labourer.
1922G. B. Shaw in S. & B. Webb Eng. Prisons p. xlvi, The supply of sweatable labor. 1928― Intelligent Woman's Guide xli. 158 Our capitalist traders..were the enemies of every country, including their own, where there was a sweatable laborer to make dividends for them.
▸ U.S. colloq.to sweat the small stuff: to worry about trivial, insignificant matters (usu. in negative contexts); originally and chiefly imper., in: don't sweat the small stuff (cf. don't sweat it at 9d).
1979N.Y. Times 23 Oct. b10/4 He quoted a friend's prescription for dealing with stress. ‘Don't sweat the small stuff,’ he said. ‘And try to remember it's all small stuff.’ 1989Production (Nexis) Sept. 79 They are able to apply their expertise to higher level concerns without needing to sweat the small stuff. 1996N. Colorado Parent Oct. 23/3 The parents themselves are usually creative, going-places, doing-things types who don't sweat the small stuff. 2001N.Y. Times Mag. 14 Jan. 28/1 Therein lies the importance of Cheney; Cheney sweats the small stuff. |