PERSPIRATION

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Salty fluid secreted by sweat glands

Example:

sweat poured off his brow

Synonyms:

perspiration; sudor; sweat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("perspiration" is a kind of...):

secretion (a functionally specialized substance (especially one that is not a waste) released from a gland or cell)

Meronyms (substance of "perspiration"):

H2O; water (binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent)

Derivation:

perspire (excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The process of the sweat glands of the skin secreting a salty fluid

Example:

perspiration is a homeostatic process

Synonyms:

diaphoresis; hidrosis; perspiration; sudation; sweating

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("perspiration" is a kind of...):

activity; bodily function; bodily process; body process (an organic process that takes place in the body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "perspiration"):

hyperhidrosis; hyperidrosis; polyhidrosis (excessive and profuse perspiration)

Derivation:

perspire (excrete perspiration through the pores in the skin)

Credits

Context examples:

He wiped his forehead, which had broken out in profuse perspiration at the thought of the pain which he might have to inflict upon the poor soul already so tortured.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

His brow glistened with perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull, dead white of a fish’s belly, and his eyes were wild and staring.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I'd been writing letters once a week and signing them: "Love, Nick," and all I could think of was how, when that certain girl played tennis, a faint mustache of perspiration appeared on her upper lip.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Michaelis and this man reached her first but when they had torn open her shirtwaist still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath.