- [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.
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
- …
- bead
- drop
- trickle
- …
- break into
- break out in
- break out into
- …
- appear
- break out
- glisten
- …
- gland
- in a sweat
- break sweat
- break a sweat
- [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.
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
- …
- bead
- drop
- trickle
- …
- break into
- break out in
- break out into
- …
- appear
- break out
- glisten
- …
- gland
- in a sweat
- break sweat
- break a sweat
- [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.
- sweats[plural] (informal, especially North American English) a sweatsuit or sweatpants
- I hung around the house all day in my sweats.
liquid on skin
hard work
clothes
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
See sweat in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee sweat in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe/get in a sweat (about something)
- to be/become anxious or frightened about something
blood, sweat and tears
- 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)
- (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
- (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!
Check pronunciation:
sweat