sweat
/swɛt
/noun
1 [mass noun] Moisture exuded through the pores of the skin, typically in profuse quantities as a reaction to heat, physical exertion, fever, or fear: beads of sweat broke out on her brow...
- Too much heat and sweat can make your skin more irritated and itchy.
- Wearing moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics that draw sweat away from the skin and allow heat to escape can be a significant help.
- Although there is a sensation of heat, evaporation of sweat from the forehead and chest results in a drop in temperature in these areas.
Synonyms
perspiration, moisture, dampness, wetness, lather;
sweating
informal muck sweat
technical sudor, diaphoresis, hidrosis
1.1 [count noun] An instance or period of being covered with sweat: even thinking about him made me break out in a sweat we’d all worked up a sweat in spite of the cold...
- Arthur conceded that he would need another fight before tackling Gomez again sometime later this year as he barely worked up a sweat in last night's encounter.
- Do these people ever wake in the middle of the night and break out in a sweat thinking about what they have done?
- The red-faced Prince appeared in his element despite the watching media crews as he worked up a sweat running around the pitch with about a dozen fellow players.
1.2 [count noun] informal A state of flustered anxiety or distress: I don’t believe he’d get into such a sweat about a girl
Synonyms
fluster, flutter, fret, fuss, panic, frenzy, fever, pother, state of anxiety, state of agitation, state of nervousness, nervous state, state of worry
informal state, flap, tizzy, tiz-woz, dither, stew, lather, twitter
North American informal twit
1.3 informal Hard work; effort: computer graphics take a lot of the sweat out of animation...
- You can only do it with a lot of sweat, working hard, and throwing stuff away.
- Remember it took four hard years of sweat and tears for this Armagh side to achieve the ultimate prize in Gaelic football which proves that perseverance does pay off.
- May I wish the youth of India whose purposeful hard work with sweat will be a major transforming force for prosperous India.
Synonyms
labour, hard work, toil(s), effort(s), exertion(s), industry, industriousness, drudgery, slog, the sweat of one's brow;
back-breaking task, labour of Hercules
informal graft, grind, elbow grease
1.4 [in singular] informal A laborious task or undertaking: helping to run the meeting was a bit of a sweat...
- The story itself, if efficacious, should give no inkling of the sweat of the author's peculiarly difficult task.
- And will be lonelier to do, than when we could banter as we worked, making the work go faster as the sweat fell, seeming to be easier as we took on the task together.
2 (sweats) chiefly North American informal term for sweatsuit or sweatpants.Noticing he was dressed in sweats and a sweat shirt, she commented ‘I take it you don't have to go into the office today.’...
- Young children's clothes and hand towels go on the middle layer and the top rack is for towels, jeans, pillow cases, sweaters, sweats, pajama bottoms and t-shirts.
- I pull out a pair of socks, sweats, a shirt and sweatshirt.
2.1 [as modifier] Denoting loose casual garments made of thick, fleecy cotton: sweat tops and bottoms...
- His eyes flew back to Roxie, briefly roaming her slim body that was clad in a black tank top and gray sweat capris.
- Slouchy hooded sweat tops, wool hats and scooter jackets form the mainstay of this skatey collection.
- Geneva surveyed Ian stretching and noticed the slightly dampened from sweat white cotton shirt clinging to his brawny chest.
verb (sweats, sweating; past and past participle sweated or North American sweat)
1 [no object] Exude sweat: he was sweating profusely...
- As Marvin, the obese Ron Orbach sweats profusely but exudes quite a bit less humor.
- Besides the environmental changes, which can make us, sweat, hormonal or emotional stimuli can cause sweating.
- I'm flexing hard and sweating profusely but never breaking my smile.
1.1 [with object] (sweat something out/off) Get rid of something from the body by exuding sweat: a well-hydrated body sweats out waste products more efficiently...
- Sometimes you get sick because of the build up of toxins over time. Your body sweats the toxins out and purifies you in an effort.
- The beauty treatment begins with a skin-brushing, proceeds with an algae all-over body mask (to sweat toxins out) and finishes with a soporific scalp massage.
1.2 [with object] Cause (a person or animal) to exude sweat by exercise or exertion: cold as it was, the climb had sweated him...
- Well, you know, this bodyguard, I tell you, I think they're going to sweat him now.
1.3(Of food or an object) ooze or exude beads of moisture on to its surface: cheese stored at room temperature will quickly begin to sweat...
- Meat sweats in those packets and loses freshness.
- Creams will sweat or soften with excessive exposure to heat, so store properly.
- It is, on the face of it, a mute slab of pinkish grey meat sweating lightly in its clingfilm wrapper, a lacklustre staple of our English diet with nothing much to say for itself.
1.4(Of a person) exert a great deal of strenuous effort: I’ve sweated over this for six months...
- I myself have a claim that I have sweated over for the last year.
- A draft need not be a complete version of a story that a writer has sweated over for hours and that an editor has red-pencilled or responded to with noteface comments.
- Terry had sweated over Sonya for two years and in that time he had spoken to her only twice.
Synonyms
work hard, work, work like a Trojan, labour, toil, slog, slave, work one's fingers to the bone, keep one's nose to the grindstone
informal grind, graft, plug away, put one's back into something
archaic drudge
1.5(Of a person) be or remain in a state of extreme anxiety, typically for a prolonged period: I let her sweat for a while, then I asked her out again
1.6 [with object] North American informal Worry about (something): he’s not going to have a lot of time to sweat the details...
- To my mind, the ‘right’ thing is to give these countries the access they need and not sweat the details.
- You tell Lindsay not to sweat it - the whole thing is bound to blow over in a week or two.
- Pay attention to these basics, and don't sweat the details too soon.
Synonyms
worry, agonize, fuss, panic, fret, dither, lose sleep, be on tenterhooks, be in a state of anxiety, be in a state of agitation, be in a state of nervousness
informal be on pins and needles, be in a state, be in a flap, be in a tiz-woz, be in a stew, be in a lather, bite one's nails, torture oneself, torment oneself
2 [with object] Heat (chopped vegetables) slowly in a pan with a small amount of fat, so that they cook in their own juices: sweat the celery and onions with olive oil and seasoning...
- Heat 50g of the butter and a little olive oil in a casserole, then, over a medium heat, sweat the onions and garlic for five minutes.
- Meanwhile, back on the other side of the kitchen, you want to slowly sweat a thinly-sliced onion in a couple of ounces of butter.
- Transfer from the pan to a bowl, stir in the rosemary and place to one side. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in the frying pan and sweat the onion until soft and translucent.
2.1 [no object] (Of chopped vegetables) be cooked slowly in a pan with a small amount of fat: let the chopped onion sweat gently for five minutes...
- Cover the pot with a lid so the vegetables sweat and soften without colouring, then pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
- Vegetables are allowed to sweat and cook in their own moisture and the results are remarkable.
- Put the lid on and, keeping the heat low, allow the vegetables to sweat gently and release their juices - this should take about 10 minutes.
3 [with object and adverbial] Subject (metal) to surface melting, especially to fasten or join by solder without a soldering iron: the tyre is sweated on to the wooden parts
Phrases
break sweat (or break a sweat)
by the sweat of one's brow
no sweat
sweat blood
sweat buckets
sweat bullets
sweat it out
sweat the small stuff
Origin
Old English swāt (noun), swǣtan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zweet and German Schweiss, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin sudor.
swot from mid 19th century:
A variation of sweat (Old English) that started life as army slang. Swot was first ‘studying, school, or college work’, and referred especially to mathematics. This led to its use to describe someone who studies hard or excessively.