Antonyms for perspire


Grammar : Verb
Spell : per-spahyuh r
Phonetic Transcription : pərˈspaɪər


Definition of perspire

Origin :
  • 1640s, "to evaporate through the pores," a back-formation from perspiration and in part from Latin perspirare "to breathe, to blow constantly" (see perspiration). Meaning "to sweat" is a polite usage attested from 1725. Medical men tried to maintain a distinction between "sensible" (sweat) and "insensible" perspiration:
  • [I]t is sufficient for common use to observe, that perspiration is that insensible discharge of vapour from the whole surface of the body and the lungs which is constantly going on in a healthy state; that it is always natural and always salutary; that sweat, on the contrary, is an evacuation, which never appears without some uncommon effort, or some disease to the system, that it weakens and relaxes, and is so far from coinciding with perspiration, that it obstructs and checks it. [Charles White, "A Treatise on the Management of Pregnant and Lying-in Women," London, 1791]
  • Related: Perspired; perspiring.
  • verb become wet with sweat
Example sentences :
  • You should just have seen him giving her abominable thrashings, which made her perspire all over.
  • Extract from : « L'Assommoir » by Emile Zola
  • He can perspire in December, when the furnace is out and the windows are open.
  • Extract from : « Philo Gubb Correspondence-School Detective » by Ellis Parker Butler
  • Sol commenced to perspire afresh, and to hop from one foot on to the other.
  • Extract from : « The Spoilers of the Valley » by Robert Watson
  • The hand in which she then put hers was soft and warm and she feared that it might perspire.
  • Extract from : « The Paliser case » by Edgar Saltus
  • You must walk or work until you perspire freely, every day of the week.
  • Extract from : « Prairie Farmer, Vol. 56: No. 3, January 19, 1884. » by Various
  • The strain of his work made him perspire as though it were midsummer.
  • Extract from : « Nan Sherwood at Pine Camp » by Annie Roe Carr
  • They are overdressed and perspire easily and as a result "catch cold."
  • Extract from : « The Eugenic Marriage, Volume IV. (of IV.) » by Grant Hague
  • The two ladies then swept from the room, and left Andrew to perspire at leisure.
  • Extract from : « Evan Harrington, Complete » by George Meredith
  • Whereupon Mr. Wetherell flushed, and began to perspire himself.
  • Extract from : « Coniston, Complete » by Winston Churchill
  • It must be her weight, Daoud thought, that made her perspire so much.
  • Extract from : « The Saracen: Land of the Infidel » by Robert Shea

Synonyms for perspire

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019