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Definition of sweat noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

sweat

noun
 
/swet/
 
/swet/
Idioms
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    liquid on skin

  1. [uncountable] drops of liquid that appear on the surface of your skin when you are hot, ill or afraid synonym perspiration
    • beads of sweat
    • She wiped the sweat from her face.
    • By the end of the match, the sweat was pouring off him.
    • Their bodies were soaked in sweat.
    see also sweaty
    Extra Examples
    • He mopped the sweat from his brow.
    • He was dripping with sweat.
    • His hands trembled and sweat broke out all over his body.
    • My shirt stuck to the clammy sweat on my back.
    • Sweat beaded her face.
    • Sweat glistened on her forehead.
    • Sweat was running down his back.
    • The room smelled of stale sweat.
    • The workmen were bathed in sweat.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • heavy
    • light
    • clammy
    • …
    … of sweat
    • bead
    • drop
    • trickle
    • …
    verb + sweat
    • break into
    • break out in
    • break out into
    • …
    sweat + verb
    • appear
    • break out
    • glisten
    • …
    sweat + noun
    • gland
    preposition
    • in a sweat
    phrases
    • break sweat
    • break a sweat
    See full entry
  2. [usually singular] the state of being covered with sweat
    • I woke up in a sweat.
    • She completed the routine without even working up a sweat.
    • He breaks out in a sweat just at the thought of flying.
    see also cold sweat, night sweat
    Extra Examples
    • She broke out in a cold sweat when she saw the spider.
    • We worked up a good sweat carrying the boxes outside.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • heavy
    • light
    • clammy
    • …
    … of sweat
    • bead
    • drop
    • trickle
    • …
    verb + sweat
    • break into
    • break out in
    • break out into
    • …
    sweat + verb
    • appear
    • break out
    • glisten
    • …
    sweat + noun
    • gland
    preposition
    • in a sweat
    phrases
    • break sweat
    • break a sweat
    See full entry
    3.

    hard work

  3. [uncountable] hard work or effort (informal)
    • Growing your own vegetables sounds like a lot of sweat.
    • (literary) She achieved success by the sweat of her brow (= by working very hard).
    • A lot of sweat has gone into producing this.
    4.

    clothes

  4. sweats
     [plural] (informal, especially North American English) a sweatsuit or sweatpants
    • I hung around the house all day in my sweats.
    5. Word OriginOld English swāt (noun), swǣtan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zweet and German Schweiss, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin sudor.
Idioms
be/get in a sweat (about something)
  1. to be/become anxious or frightened about something
blood, sweat and tears
  1. very hard work; a lot of effort
    • The only way to succeed is through old-fashioned blood, sweat and tears.
break sweat (British English)
(North American English break a sweat)
  1. (informal) to use a lot of physical effort
    • He hardly needed to break sweat to reach the final.
    • She beat me without even breaking (a) sweat.
no sweat
  1. (informal) used to tell somebody that something is not difficult or a problem when they thank you or ask you to do something
    • ‘Thanks for everything.’ ‘Hey, no sweat!’
    • Well, he could answer that one straight off, no sweat!
See sweat in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sweat in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: sweat

Nearby words

trait
noun
 
 
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