Definition of "sweat"

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

the sweat of hay or grain in a mow or stack

1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], published 1708

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

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

[…] who both died within one houre of the sweat at Cambridge

1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison

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 October 13, Zachary Roberts, “How exactly are 'sweats' ruining Fortnite? Addressing the never ending try-hards vs casual debate”, in Sportskeeda‎

"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."

2022 September 7, Tom Allett, “At the cutting edge of NR's track work”, in RAIL, number 965, page 40

There are few matters studio executives sweat more than maintaining their franchises.

2010 December 5, Brooks Barnes, “Studios battle to save Narnia”, in The New York Times

With exercise she sweat ill humors out.

1700, [John] Dryden, “The Cock and the Fox: Or, The Tale of the Nun’s Priest, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]

I was sipping a third, but I had no kind of buzz on; apparently I had sweat the beer out as rapidly as I drank it.

1980, Stephen King, The Mist

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

Over the next few days the cops half-ass questioned a couple of people, including me and Pimp, but they wasn't able to put nothing on us. They sweated Vyreen's husband pretty hard for a while, though.

2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World/Ballantine Books, page 118

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

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)

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