perspire

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French perspirer and its source Latin perspirare (“to breathe everywhere, blow constantly”), from per (“through”) + spirare (“to breathe”); see spirit.

Pronunciation

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• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

Verb

perspire (third-person singular simple present perspires, present participle perspiring, simple past and past participle perspired)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To emit (sweat or perspiration) through the skin's pores.

   I was perspiring freely after running the marathon.

   • 2010, Susan C. Karant-Nunn, The Reformation of Feeling

     He lists forty reasons, mainly metaphorical, why Christ perspired blood, and his peroration takes twenty-two pages in print.

2. (intransitive) To be evacuated or excreted, or to exude, through the pores of the skin.

   A fluid perspires.

Synonyms

• sweat

Related terms

• conspire
• inspire
• perspiration
• respire
• transpire

Translations

sweat — see sweat

Further reading

• “perspire”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “perspire”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.