sweat
[noun]
Synonyms:
- perspiration
- labour, chore, drudgery, toil
- worry, agitation, anxiety, distress, panic, strain
[verb]
Synonyms:
- perspire, glow
- worry, agonize, fret, suffer, torture oneself

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. sweat¹ /swet/ 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 Synonym : 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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. sweat² noun
[Date: 1300-1400; Origin: ⇒ sweat¹]

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 Synonym : 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 Synonym : sweatsuit
b) trousers of this type Synonym : 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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

sweat
noun
ADJ. heavy | fine, light | clammy My shirt stuck to the clammy sweat on my back.
cold | stale The room smelled of stale sweat.
good We worked up a good sweat carrying the boxes outside.
QUANT. bead, drop, trickle
VERB + SWEAT break into, break out in/into She broke out in a cold sweat when she saw the spider.
work up | wake (up) in | bring sb out in | be bathed/covered/drenched/soaked in, be beaded/streaming with, be dripping (with), be slippery/wet with, glisten with The workmen were streaming with sweat. His forehead was dripping sweat.
mop, wipe He mopped the sweat from his brow.
SWEAT + VERB appear, break out His hands trembled and sweat broke out all over his body.
glisten, stand out sweat glistening on her forehead Sweat stood out on his shoulders.
bead sth, drip/pour/run from/into/off sth, run/trickle down sth Sweat beaded her face. Sweat was running down his back.
soak sth
SWEAT + NOUN gland
PREP. in a ~ She woke up in a cold sweat.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sweat
verb
ADV. freely, heavily, a lot, profusely | slightly | off He's trying to sweat off a few pounds in the gym.
VERB + SWEAT begin to | make sb The heat was making us sweat.
PREP. from We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.
with He awoke with a pounding heart, sweating with fear.
PHRASES sweat buckets, sweat like a pig (both informal) After two hours of digging he was sweating like a pig.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sweat

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.
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.
stale sweat
The room smelt of stale sweat.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

sweat
swet
See: by the sweat of one's brow

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲