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Webster 1913 Edition

Sweat

Sweat

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sweat
or
Sweated
(
Obs.
Swat
);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Sweating
.]
[OE.
sweten
, AS.
swaetan
, fr.
swāt
, n., sweat; akin to OFries. & OS.
swēt
, D.
zweet
, OHG.
sweiz
, G.
schweiss
, Icel.
sviti
,
sveiti
, Sw.
svett
, Dan.
sved
, L.
sudor
sweat,
sudare
to sweat, Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK], sweat, [GREEK] to sweat, Skr.
svēda
sweat,
svid
to sweat. √178. Cf.
Exude
,
Sudary
,
Sudorific
.]
1.
To excrete sensible moisture from the pores of the skin; to perspire.
Shak.
2.
Fig.: To perspire in toil; to work hard; to drudge.
He ’d have the poets
sweat
.
Waller.
3.
To emit moisture, as green plants in a heap.

Sweat

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To cause to excrete moisture from the skin; to cause to perspire;
as, his physicians attempted to
sweat
him by most powerful sudorifics
.
2.
To emit or suffer to flow from the pores; to exude.
It made her not a drop for
sweat
.
Chaucer.
With exercise she
sweat
ill humors out.
Dryden.
3.
To unite by heating, after the application of soldier.
4.
To get something advantageous, as money, property, or labor from (any one), by exaction or oppression;
as, to
sweat
a spendthrift; to
sweat
laborers
.
[Colloq.]
To sweat coin
,
to remove a portion of a piece of coin, as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal.
The 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.
R. Cobden.

Sweat

,
Noun.
[Cf. OE.
swot
, AS.
swāt
. See
Sweat
,
Verb.
I.
]
1.
(Physiol.)
The fluid which is excreted from the skin of an animal; the fluid secreted by the sudoriferous glands; a transparent, colorless, acid liquid with a peculiar odor, containing some fatty acids and mineral matter; perspiration. See
Perspiration
.
In the
sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread.
Gen. iii. 19.
2.
The act of sweating; or the state of one who sweats; hence, labor; toil; drudgery.
Shak.
3.
Moisture issuing from any substance;
as, the
sweat
of hay or grain in a mow or stack
.
Mortimer.
4.
The sweating sickness.
[Obs.]
Holinshed.
5.
(Man.)
A short run by a race horse in exercise.
Sweat box
(Naut.)
,
a small closet in which refractory men are confined.
–
Sweat glands
(Anat.)
,
sudoriferous glands. See under
Sudoriferous
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sweat

SWEAT

,
Noun.
swet. [L. sudor.]
1.
The fluid or sensible moisture which issues out of the pores of the skin of an animal.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Gen.3.
2.
Labor; toil; drudgery.
3.
Moisture evacuated from any substance; as the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack.

SWEAT

,
Verb.
I.
swet. pret. and pp. sweat or sweated. Swot is obsolete. [L. sudo.]
1.
To emit sensible moisture through the pores of the skin; to perspire. Horses sweat; oxen sweat little or not at all.]
2.
To toil; to labor; to drudge.
He'd have the poets sweat.
3.
To emit moisture, as green plants in a heap.

SWEAT

,
Verb.
T.
swet. To emit or suffer to flow from the pores; to exsude.
For him the rich Arabia sweats her gums.
1.
To cause to emit moisture from the pores of the skin. His physicians attempted to sweat him by the most powerful sudorifics.
They sweat him profusely.

Definition 2024

sweat

sweat

English

Noun

sweat ‎(usually uncountable, plural sweats)

  1. 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.
  2. (Britain, slang, military slang, especially WWI) A soldier (especially one who is old or experienced).
  3. (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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Holinshed to this entry?)
  4. Moisture issuing from any substance.
    the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)
  5. A short run by a racehorse as a form of exercise.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
fluid that exits the body through pores

Etymology 2

From Old English swætan, from the noun swāt. Compare Dutch zweten, German schwitzen, Danish svede.

Verb

sweat ‎(third-person singular simple present sweats, present participle sweating, simple past and past participle sweated or sweat)

  1. (intransitive) To emit sweat.
  2. (transitive) To cause to excrete moisture from the skin; to cause to perspire.
    His physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.
  3. (intransitive, informal) To work hard.
    I've been sweating over my essay all day.
  4. (transitive, informal) To extract money, labour, etc. from, by exaction or oppression.
    to sweat a spendthrift; to sweat labourers
  5. (intransitive, informal) To worry.
  6. (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.
  7. (transitive) To emit, in the manner of sweat.
    to sweat blood
    • Dryden
      With exercise she sweat ill humors out.
  8. (intransitive) To emit moisture.
    The cheese will start sweating if you don't refrigerate it.
  9. (intransitive, plumbing) To solder (a pipe joint) together.
  10. (transitive, slang) To stress out.
    Stop sweatin' me!
  11. (transitive, intransitive) To cook slowly in shallow oil without browning.
  12. (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. Cobden
      The 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.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Related terms

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Borrowing from English sweatshirt.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /swit/

Noun

sweat m ‎(plural sweats)

  1. sweatshirt
    Les sweats à capuche sont interdits dans certaines lieux publics en Grande-Bretagne.‎
    Hoodies are prohibited in some places in Great Britain.

Etymology

From Old English swāt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-, from Proto-Indo-European *swoyd- ‎(“to sweat”), o-grade of *sweyd- ‎(“to sweat”). Cognate with West Frisian swit, Dutch zweet, German Schweiß, Danish sved, Swedish svett, Yiddish שוויצן ‎(shvitsn) (English shvitz), French sueur, Spanish sudor, Persian خوی ‎(xway), Sanskrit स्वेद ‎(svéda), Latvian sviedri, Tocharian B syā-, and Albanian djersë.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: swĕt, IPA(key): /swɛt/
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

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