swot

Etymology

From a dialectal English word, from Middle English swot, swat, from Old English swāt (“perspiration; sweat”), from Proto-Germanic swaitą (“sweat”). More at sweat.

verb

1. (intransitive, slang, Britain) To study with effort or determination (object of study indicated by "up on").
   You should swot up on your French before travelling to Paris.

noun

1. (slang, Britain) One who swots; a boffin, nerd, or smart aleck.
   He liked Tom all right... Sampson and Bullock he could do without, however. Especially Sampson, who was too much of a grammar-school-type swot ever to be quite the thing. 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 23
   On first listen, Americans of a certain vintage would call one a Poindexter, while older Brits would regard the other as a swot. 2023-08-08, Janan Ganesh, “The oneness of Ron DeSantis and Rishi Sunak”, in Financial Times
2. (slang, Britain) Work.
3. (slang, Britain) Vigorous study at an educational institution.