Humans Are Unusually Good at Sweating
Sweat is fluid released through the skin to cool the body. Very few mammals cool themselves this way.
Sweat is the salty fluid released through the skin, chiefly to cool the body by evaporation. Humans are among the very few mammals that rely on it: dogs pant, pigs wallow, and most animals have far fewer sweat glands than we do. Our combination of near-hairless skin and millions of eccrine glands makes us exceptional at shedding heat, which is why humans can run down faster animals over long distances in hot conditions. *No sweat* means no trouble, and *sweat it out* means to endure.
- Skin fluid for cooling. *Dripping with sweat.*
- To perspire. *Sweating in the heat.*
- No sweat — no problem. *No sweat.*
- Eccrine glands — the cooling type. *Eccrine glands.*
- Old English — *swat*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | sweat | Sweat. |
| Verb | sweat | Sweat. |
| Past | sweated / sweat | Sweated. |
| Adjective | sweaty | Sweaty. |
| Formal | perspiration | Perspiration. |
- He was covered in sweat.Physical.
- No sweat, I can do it.Idiom.
- Dogs pant instead of sweating.Biology.
How other mammals cool down
- Dogs — pant, evaporating moisture from the tongue and airways
- Pigs — wallow in mud, since they sweat very little
- Elephants — flap their ears to lose heat through blood vessels
- Horses — do sweat substantially, one of the few that do
- Humans — millions of eccrine glands plus bare skin, an unusual combination
Old English *swat*, of Germanic origin, related to Latin *sudor* and Sanskrit *sveda*.
Why are humans good at sweating?
We combine near-hairless skin with millions of eccrine sweat glands, which lets us shed heat efficiently during sustained exertion.
Do dogs sweat?
Only slightly, through their paw pads. They cool themselves mainly by panting.