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perspiration meaning and examples

2025-08-25

Meaning

Perspiration is a noun that refers to the process of sweating — the release of moisture through the skin, usually caused by heat, physical effort, stress, or illness.

It can also be used figuratively to indicate hard work or effort.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Noun (uncountable, sometimes countable when referring to drops of sweat)

  • Used in both literal and figurative contexts:

    • Literal: physical sweating due to heat or exertion.
    • Figurative: effort, hard work (“Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”).

Typical patterns:

  • “covered in perspiration”
  • “break into perspiration”
  • “wipe off perspiration”

Common Phrases

  • Break into a perspiration – suddenly start sweating.
  • Cold perspiration – sweat caused by fear, anxiety, or illness.
  • Be drenched in perspiration – be covered all over in sweat.

Collocations

  • Adjectives + perspiration: heavy perspiration, cold perspiration, excessive perspiration, visible perspiration.
  • Verbs + perspiration: wipe perspiration, cause perspiration, break into perspiration, be soaked in perspiration.
  • Perspiration + nouns: perspiration stains, perspiration odor.

Examples

  1. After running five kilometers, he was dripping with perspiration.
  2. The nervous candidate wiped away the perspiration on his forehead.
  3. She woke up in a cold perspiration after the nightmare.
  4. The doctor noted excessive perspiration as one of the symptoms.
  5. Success often comes through hard work and perspiration, not just talent.
  6. The heat caused everyone to break into perspiration within minutes.
  7. His shirt showed dark patches from perspiration during the presentation.
  • Sweat (informal, more common in daily use)
  • Exudation (formal, medical)
  • Related expression: “hard work,” “toil,” “effort.”