verb, sweat or sweat⋅ed, sweat⋅ing, noun, adjective | 1. | to perspire, esp. freely or profusely. |
| 2. | to exude moisture, as green plants piled in a heap or cheese. |
| 3. | to gather moisture from the surrounding air by condensation. |
| 4. | (of moisture or liquid) to ooze or be exuded. |
| 5. | Informal. to work hard. |
| 6. | Informal. to experience distress, as from anxiety. |
| 7. | (of tobacco) to ferment. |
| 8. | to excrete (perspiration, moisture, etc.) through the pores of the skin. |
| 9. | to exude in drops or small particles: The drying figs sweat tiny drops of moisture. |
| 10. | to send forth or get rid of with or like perspiration (often fol. by out or off). |
| 11. | to wet or stain with perspiration. |
| 12. | to cause (a person, a horse, etc.) to perspire. |
| 13. | to cause to exude moisture, esp. as a step in an industrial drying process: to sweat wood. |
| 14. | to earn, produce, or obtain (a result, promotion, compliment, etc.) by hard work. |
| 15. | to cause to lose (weight) as by perspiring or hard work: The hard week's work sweated five pounds off him. |
| 16. | to cause, force, or bring pressure on (a person, an animal, etc.) to work hard. |
| 17. | to employ (workers) at low wages, for long hours, or under other unfavorable conditions. |
| 18. | to labor with meticulous care over: The manufacturer of this beautiful car has really sweated the details. |
| 19. | Slang.
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| 20. | Slang. to subject to severe questioning; give the third degree to. |
| 21. | Metallurgy.
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| 22. | to remove bits of metal from (gold coins) by shaking them against one another, as in a bag. Compare clip 1 (def. 4). |
| 23. | to cause (tobacco or cocoa) to ferment. |
| 24. | the process of sweating or perspiring. |
| 25. | that which is secreted from sweat glands; perspiration. |
| 26. | a state or a period of sweating. |
| 27. | hard work. |
| 28. | Informal. a state of anxiety or impatience. |
| 29. | a process of inducing sweating or perspiration, or of being sweated, as in medical treatment. |
| 30. | moisture exuded from something or gathered on a surface. |
| 31. | an exuding of moisture, as by a substance. |
| 32. | an inducing of such exudation, as in some industrial process. |
| 33. | a run given to a horse for exercise, as before a race. |
| 34. | sweats, Informal. sweatpants, sweatshirts, sweat suits, or the like. |
| 35. | Informal.
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| 36. | sweat out, Informal.
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| 37. | no sweat, Informal. with no difficulty or problem. |
| 38. | sweat blood, Informal.
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| 39. | sweat bullets, Informal.
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| 40. | sweat it, Informal.
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s
sweat (swět)
v. sweat·ed or sweat, sweat·ing, sweats
To excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin; perspire. n.
The colorless saline moisture excreted by the sweat glands; perspiration.
The process of sweating.
| sweat (swět) Pronunciation Key
The salty liquid given off by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. As sweat evaporates, the skin cools, causing a reduction in body heat. |
sweat bullets
Perspire profusely; also, suffer mental anguish. For example, We were sweating bullets, sitting in the sun through all those graduation speeches, or It was their first baby, and David was sweating bullets while Karen was in labor. The bullets in this expression allude to drops of perspiration the size of bullets. [Slang; mid-1900s]