I. sweat 1 /swet/ BrE AmE 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
II. sweat 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ sweat 1 ]
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.