sweat
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: swĕt
ipa: /swɛt/
rhymes: -ɛt
Forms: form: sweats
Etymology: From Middle English swete, swet, swate, swote, from Old English swāt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-, *swaitą, 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), Latin sudor, French sueur, Italian sudore, Spanish sudor, Persian خوی (xway, “sweat”), Sanskrit स्वेद (svéda), Lithuanian sviedri, Tocharian B syā-, Albanian djersë, and Welsh chwys.
Senses: synonyms: perspiration
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Just thinking about the interview tomorrow puts me into a nervous sweat.
glosses: The state of one who is sweating; diaphoresis.
glosses: Hard work; toil.
examples: text: The Muses' friend (grey-eyed Aurora) yet
 Held all the meadows in a cooling sweat,
 The milk-white gossamers not upwards snow'd,
 Nor was the sharp and useful-steering goad
ref: 1613, William Browne, Britannia's Pastorals:
text: the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack
ref: 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
glosses: Moisture issuing from any substance.
examples: text: A Horſe that gains Fleſh in hard Exerciſe, should be ſweated at leaſt twice in ten Days; and he ſhould run near five Miles in Puſhes, that the Sweat may have Time to diſcharge. Those Horſes which are ſweat without Covering, or with a very thin one, should run a long Sweat, as wel call it, and ſtand a conſiderable while afterwards with a thick Blanket or two over them, from Head to Tail; otherwiſe the Sweat will not come out well.
ref: 1740, Henry Bracken, Farriery improv'd:
text: There are some horses so very delicate, and have to run such short lengths, that they may not require a sweat during the whole time of their being in training.
ref: 1840, Richard Darvill, A Treatise on the Care, Treatment, and Training of the English Race Horse:
text: A sweat was, accordingly, a training run for a racehorse: a notice in The London Gazette in 1705 advertises a race for hunters that have not 'been kept in sweats above 12 weeks before the day of Running'.
ref: 2016, Gerald Hammond, The Language of Horse Racing:
glosses: A short run by a racehorse as a form of exercise.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 131:
text: […]who both died within one houre of the sweat at Cambridge
ref: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC:
glosses: The sweating sickness.
topics: government
military
politics
war
qualifier: especially WWI
glosses: A soldier (especially one who is old or experienced).
examples: text: Casuals believe that sweats are ruining Fortnite. Sweats think that casuals just need to get better at the game. It's a never-ending debate that will never end, despite what anyone tries to say, but it's worth taking a look at regardless.
ref: 2021 October 13, Zachary Roberts, “How exactly are 'sweats' ruining Fortnite? Addressing the never ending try-hards vs casual debate”, in Sportskeeda:
topics: video-games
synonyms: tryhard
glosses: An extremely or excessively competitive player.
Synonyms: sudor
Derived terms: antisweat
blood sweat
bloody sweat
break a sweat
cold sweat
corn sweat
don't sweat it
English sweat
flop sweat
forswat
in a sweat
muck sweat
never-sweat
no sweat
old sweat
outsweat
Picardy sweat
sweat angel
sweatball
sweatband
sweat batten
sweat bee
sweat box
sweatbox
sweat cloth
sweat-dappled
sweatdrop
sweatee
sweatful
sweat gland
sweat hole
sweathouse
sweatish
sweatless
sweatlike
sweat lodge
sweatlord
sweatmeat
sweat of one's brow
sweat of the brow
sweatpant
sweatpants
sweat pants
sweat pore
sweatproof
sweat rash
sweat scraper
sweatshirt
sweatshop
sweatsoaked
sweatstained
sweatsuit
sweat trousers
sweaty
tiger sweat
Related terms: shvitz