sweat - Ondict

sweat

sweat¹ /swet/

verb

Language: Old English
Origin: swætan, from swat 'sweat' (noun)

1. LIQUID FROM SKIN [intransitive and transitive] to have drops of salty liquid coming out through your skin because you are hot, ill, frightened, or doing exercise
SYN perspire:

I was sweating a lot despite the air conditioning.
sweat heavily/profusely (=sweat a lot)

Within minutes she was sweating profusely.
sweat like a pig/sweat buckets informal (=sweat a lot)

basketball players sweating buckets
2. WORK [intransitive and transitive] informal to work hard:

They sweated and saved for ten years to buy a house.
sweat over

He’d sweated over the plans for six months.
sweat blood/sweat your guts out (=work very hard)

I sweated blood to get that report finished.

We’ve been sweating our guts out here__
3. WORRY [intransitive and transitive] informal to be anxious, nervous, or worried about something:

Let them sweat a bit before you tell them.
sweat bullets American English (=be very anxious)

Workers are sweating bullets over the possibility of job losses.
4. don’t sweat it American English spoken used to tell someone not to worry about something:

Don’t sweat it, I’ll lend you the money.
5. don’t sweat the small stuff American English spoken used to tell someone not to worry about unimportant things
6. PRODUCE LIQUID [intransitive] if something such as cheese sweats, fat from inside appears on its surface
7. COOK [transitive] British English to heat food gently in a little water or fat:

Sweat the vegetables until the juices run out.

sweat something ↔ off phrasal verb
  to lose weight by sweating a lot
sweat something ↔ out phrasal verb
  1. to wait anxiously for news that is very important to you:

Charles is sweating it out while the coach decides which players he’s taking to the Olympics.
2. American English to work very hard on something, especially something difficult:

kids sweating out a test
3. to do hard physical exercise:

They were sweating it out in the gym.
4. to get rid of an illness by making yourself sweat a lot

sweat²

noun

Date: 1300-1400
Origin: ⇨ sweat¹

1. LIQUID ON SKIN [singular, uncountable] drops of salty liquid that come out through your skin when you are hot, frightened, ill, or doing exercise
SYN perspiration:

Ian came off the squash court dripping with sweat.

Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Sweat poured down his face.
2. [countable] the condition of sweating:

Symptoms include fatigue and night sweats.
    work up a sweat (=do physical exercise or hard work that makes you sweat)
3. a (cold) sweat a state of nervousness or fear, especially one in which you are sweating
    in/into a (cold) sweat

I woke up from the nightmare in a cold sweat.

Don’t get into such a sweat about it__ It’s only a test.
4. break into a sweat/break out in a sweat
  a. to start sweating
  b. to become very nervous or frightened:

Drops in stock market prices have investors breaking out into a sweat.
5. break sweat British English, break a sweat American English to start sweating because you are making an effort:

Karen was on the exercise bikes, just beginning to break a sweat.
6. no sweat spoken used to say that you can do something easily:

‘Are you sure you can do it on time?’ ‘Yeah, no sweat!’
7. sweats [plural] American English informal
  a. clothes made of thick soft cotton, worn especially for sport
   SYN sweatsuit
  b. trousers of this type
   SYN sweat pants
8. WORK [singular] old-fashioned hard work, especially when it is boring or unpleasant
9. the sweat of sb’s brow literary the hard effort that someone has made in their work

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs
   ▪ be dripping with sweat After two hours' climbing, their bodies were dripping with sweat.
   ▪ be drenched/soaked with sweat (=be covered in a lot of sweat) His shirt was drenched with sweat.
   ▪ sweat runs/pours somewhere My hand was shaking and sweat was pouring off my forehead.
   ▪ sweat trickles somewhere (=flows slowly) I could feel the sweat trickling down my back.
   ▪ glisten with sweat (=be wet and shiny with sweat) His chest glistened with sweat.
■ phrases
   ▪ beads of sweat (=drops of sweat) There were beads of sweat on his forehead.
   ▪ a trickle of sweat (=sweat that is flowing somewhere) A trickle of sweat ran down my neck.
   ▪ be wet/damp with sweat She had been exercising and her hair was damp with sweat.
   ▪ sweat stands out on somebody's forehead (=there are drops of sweat on somebody's forehead) Sweat stood out on Ian's forehead.
   ▪ wipe the sweat from your brow/forehead He wiped the sweat from his brow and carried on digging.
■ adjectives
   ▪ stale sweat The room smelt of stale sweat.