sweat of one's brow
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sweat of one's brow
- /ˈswɛt əv wɒnz ˈbɹaʊ/ UK
- /ˈswɛt əv wʌnz ˈbɹaʊ/ US
Rhymes with -aʊ
Where it comes from
A reference to Genesis 3:17 and 19 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “And unto Adam he [God] said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, … In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground: …”, meaning that due to disobedience to God, humans would henceforth have to exert labour for their food, causing their brows or foreheads to perspire.
noun
-
The effort extended in (often manual) labour, and the value created thereby.
So anyhow Terry brought the three pints Joe was standing and begob the sight nearly left my eyes when I saw him land out a quid. O, as true as I'm telling you. A goodlooking sovereign. / ― And there's more where that came from, says he. / ― Were you robbing the poorbox, Joe? say I? / ― Sweat of my b
Similar: sweat of one's brows, sweat of one's face
Translations
Every language
noun effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby
| Português | com o suor do seu rosto |
|---|---|
| Français | à la sueur de son front |
| Deutsch | im Schweiße seines Angesichts |
| Italiano | col sudore della fronte |
| Русский | в по́те лица́ v póte licá, в по́те лица́ своего́ v póte licá svojevó |
Talk about this word "sweat of one's brow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sweat%20of%20one's%20brow. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. sweat of one's brow. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sweat%20of%20one's%20brow "sweat of one's brow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sweat%20of%20one's%20brow.Cite this
@misc{sweat_of_one_s_brow_2026,
title = {sweat of one's brow},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sweat%20of%20one's%20brow},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
