sweat of one's brow
/ˈswɛt əv wʌnz ˈbɹaʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.40 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
15
Letters
1
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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 brow, says Joe. 'Twas the prudent member gave me the wheeze."
- "Making matters worse, these courts developed a new theory to justify the protection of factual compilations. Known alternatively as "sweat of the brow" or "industrious collection," the underlying notion was that copyright was a reward for the hard work that went into compiling facts."
Etymology
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.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈswɛt əv wʌnz ˈbɹaʊ/
- British English: /ˈswɛt əv wɒnz ˈbɹaʊ/
Usage
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
sweat of one's brows
sweat of one's face