Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To excrete perspiration through the pores of the skin.
- intransitive verb To expel through external pores; exude.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To breathe or blow through.
- To evacuate the fluids of the body through the ecretories of te skin; perform excretion by the cuticular pores; sweat.
- To be evacuated or excreted through the excretories of the skin; exude by or through the skin, as a fluid.
- To emit or evacuate through the excretories of the skin; give out through external pores.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb (Physiol.) To excrete matter through the skin; esp., to excrete fluids through the pores of the skin; to sweat.
- intransitive verb To be evacuated or excreted, or to exude, through the pores of the skin.
- transitive verb To emit or evacuate through the pores of the skin; to sweat; to excrete through pores.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb to emit sweat or perspiration through the skin's pores
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Madame Schwellenberg began to storm in bad English, and told him that he made her "what you call perspire!"
Critical and Historical Essays, Volume III (of 3) Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay 1829
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In a season of throw-backs, you can add this to the list: Just as our grandmothers insisted that girls don't sweat, they "perspire," there remains a narrow range of acceptable behavior for female athletes.
Laura Pappano: Ponytail Pull Was Bad (But Good for Women's Sports) 2009
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Plants that live in swamps must "perspire" freely and keep their pores open.
Wild Flowers Worth Knowing Neltje Blanchan 1891
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In a season of throw-backs, you can add this to the list: Just as our grandmothers insisted that girls don't sweat, they "perspire," there remains a narrow range of acceptable behavior for female athletes.
The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Laura Pappano 2009
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'perspire'; 'and go on to your proper place on the tender.'
A Prisoner in Fairyland Algernon Blackwood 1910
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They have to inspire businesses by choosing the right cause marketing program, and then perspire doing the lion's share of the work to ensure success.
Joe Waters: All Cause Marketing Is Local Joe Waters 2011
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They have to inspire businesses by choosing the right cause marketing program, and then perspire doing the lion's share of the work to ensure success.
Joe Waters: All Cause Marketing Is Local Joe Waters 2011
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"A lot of people still don't understand the importance of using sunscreen and you need a water-resistant sunscreen too, especially if you perspire a lot when you ride, like I do."
Kiehl's President on Bikes and Beauty Cream Marshall Heyman 2011
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The desert sun was merciless, and the exertion necessary to slay the three filthy hill bandits had given cause for the huge barbarian to perspire much more than even he was used to.
More Conan Fan Fiction! Cromsblood 2010
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The desert sun was merciless, and the exertion necessary to slay the three filthy hill bandits had given cause for the huge barbarian to perspire much more than even he was used to.
Archive 2010-02-01 Cromsblood 2010
bilby commented on the word perspire
A clammy vampire.
March 25, 2009