sweat

Etymology 1

From Middle English swete, swet, swate, swote, from Old English swāt, from Proto-Germanic *swait-, *swaitą, from Proto-Indo-European *swoyd- (“to sweat”), o-grade of *sweyd- (“to sweat”). Cognate with West Frisian swit, Dutch zweet, German Schweiß, Danish sved, Swedish svett, Yiddish שוויצן (shvitsn) (English shvitz), Latin sudor, French sueur, Italian sudore, Spanish sudor, Persian خوی (xway, “sweat”), Sanskrit स्वेद (svéda), Lithuanian sviedri, Tocharian B syā-, Albanian djersë, and Welsh chwys.

noun

1. Fluid that exits the body through pores in the skin usually due to physical stress and/or high temperature for the purpose of regulating body temperature and removing certain compounds from the circulation.
2. The state of one who sweats; diaphoresis.
   Just thinking about the interview tomorrow puts me into a nervous sweat.
3. (figurative) Hard work; toil.
4. (figurative) Moisture issuing from any substance.
   The Muses' friend (grey-eyed Aurora) yet Held all the meadows in a cooling sweat, The milk-white gossamers not upwards snow'd, Nor was the sharp and useful-steering goad 1613, William Browne, Britannia's Pastorals
5. A short run by a racehorse as a form of exercise.
   A Horſe that gains Fleſh in hard Exerciſe, should be ſweated at leaſt twice in ten Days; and he ſhould run near five Miles in Puſhes, that the Sweat may have Time to diſcharge. Those Horſes which are ſweat without Covering, or with a very thin one, should run a long Sweat, as wel call it, and ſtand a conſiderable while afterwards with a thick Blanket or two over them, from Head to Tail; otherwiſe the Sweat will not come out well. 1740, Henry Bracken, Farriery improv'd
   There are some horses so very delicate, and have to run such short lengths, that they may not require a sweat during the whole time of their being in training. 1840, Richard Darvill, A Treatise on the Care, Treatment, and Training of the English Race Horse
   A sweat was, accordingly, a training run for a racehorse: a notice in The London Gazette in 1705 advertises a race for hunters that have not 'been kept in sweats above 12 weeks before the day of Running'. 2016, Gerald Hammond, The Language of Horse Racing
6. (historical) The sweating sickness.
   When the sweat comes back this summer, 1528, people say, as they did last year, that you won't get it if you don't think about it. 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 131
7. (Britain, military slang, especially WWI) A soldier (especially one who is old or experienced).
8. (video games, slang) An extremely competitive player.
   Casuals believe that sweats are ruining Fortnite. Sweats think that casuals just need to get better at the game. It's a never-ending debate that will never end, despite what anyone tries to say, but it's worth taking a look at regardless. 2021-10-13, Zachary Roberts, “How exactly are 'sweats' ruining Fortnite? Addressing the never ending try-hards vs casual debate”, in Sportskeeda

Etymology 2

From Middle English sweten, from Old English swǣtan, from Proto-Germanic *swaitijaną (“to sweat”). Compare Dutch zweten, German schwitzen, Danish svede. Doublet of shvitz.

verb

1. (intransitive) To emit sweat.
2. (transitive) To cause to excrete moisture through skin.
   1. To cause to perspire.
      His physicians attempted to sweat him by most powerful sudorifics.
3. (intransitive, informal) To work hard.
   I've been sweating over my essay all day.
   1. (video games) To be extremely dedicated to winning a game; to play competitively.
      There's no way we can win. These guys are sweating so hard.
      With skill-based matchmaking, he wrote, "you have to sweat 100 percent of the time." They contend their audiences want to see them pull off amazing victories, not struggle endlessly against other top players. 2022-05-27, Ethan Davison, “Video game developers want fair online games. Some players really don’t.”, in The Washington Post
4. (transitive, informal) To extract money, labour, etc. from, by exaction or oppression.
   to sweat a spendthrift
   to sweat labourers
   "I've predicted it will last 32 years. The last overhaul we will do on it is at 24 years, but we tend to sweat the asset at Network Rail and try and save a bit of money, so I've estimated 32 years." September 7 2022, Tom Allett, “At the cutting edge of NR's track work”, in RAIL, number 965, page 40
5. (intransitive, informal) To worry.
6. (transitive, informal) To worry about (something).
   Don't sweat it!
   to sweat the small stuff
   There are few matters studio executives sweat more than maintaining their franchises. 5 Dec 2010, Brooks Barnes, “Studios battle to save Narnia”, in The New York Times
7. (transitive) To emit, in the manner of sweat.
   to sweat blood
8. (intransitive) To emit moisture.
   The cheese will start sweating if you don't refrigerate it.
9. (intransitive) To have drops of water form on (something's surface) due to moisture condensation.
   Coasters are a good way to stop a sweating glass from damaging your table.
10. (intransitive, plumbing) To solder (a pipe joint) together.
11. (transitive, slang) To stress out, to put under pressure.
    Stop sweatin' me!
    But I'ma smoke 'em now and not next time / Smoke any motherfucker that sweats me 1988, “Fuck tha Police”, performed by N.W.A
12. (transitive, intransitive, cooking) To cook slowly at low heat, in shallow oil and without browning, to reduce moisture content.
    Sweating is a generally a quiet operation; if the food is whispering, or worse, hissing, the moisture is probably evaporating too rapidly 2002, Judy Rodgers, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
    Sweat the carrots, onion, celery, leeks, and cabbage in the butter until translucent not allowing them to color in any way. 2007, Patty Elsberry, Matt Bolus, Simply Vanilla: Recipes for Everyday Use, page 93
    Reduce heat to low, cover pan, and gently sweat the celery for ten minutes, taking care not to brown it 2009, Bill Neal, Bill Neal's Southern Cooking, page 11
    Sweat the onions and garlic in the oil, stirring occasionally, until they are completely soft (no crunch) but not caramelized. 2011, The Bay Area Homegrown Cookbook
13. (transitive, archaic) To remove a portion of (a coin), as by shaking it with others in a bag, so that the friction wears off a small quantity of the metal.
    The only use of it [money] which is interdicted is to put it in circulation again after having diminished its weight by sweating, or otherwise, because the quantity of metal contains is no longer consistent with its impression. 1879, Richard Cobden, On the Probable Fall in the Value of Gold (originally by Michel Chevalier)
14. (intransitive) To suffer a penalty; to smart for one's misdeeds.
15. (transitive) To take a racehorse for a short exercise run.
    A Horſe that gains Fleſh in hard Exerciſe, should be ſweated at leaſt twice in ten Days; and he ſhould run near five Miles in Puſhes, that the Sweat may have Time to diſcharge. Those Horſes which are ſweat without Covering, or with a very thin one, should run a long Sweat, as wel call it, and ſtand a conſiderable while afterwards with a thick Blanket or two over them, from Head to Tail; otherwiſe the Sweat will not come out well. 1740, Henry Bracken, Farriery improv'd