sweat of one's brow en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈswɛt əv wʌnz ˈbɹaʊ/ (General-American)
- /ˈswɛt əv wɒnz ˈbɹaʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
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.
Meanings
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(idiomatic, uncountable) 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 brow, says Joe. 'Twas the prudent member gave me the wheeze.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 285: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.
1991 March 27, Sandra Day O'Connor writing for the Supreme Court of the United States in Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co.
Relateds
Synonyms
sweat of one's brows · sweat of one's face
Translations (14)
sv i sitt anletes svett (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · pt com o suor do seu rosto (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · ru в по́те лица́ (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · it col sudore della fronte (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · nl in het zweet zijns aanschijns (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · de im Schweiße seines Angesichts (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · fi hiellä ja vaivalla (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · gl suor da túa fronte (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · fa عرق جبین (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · fi otsa hiessä (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · fr à la sueur de son front (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · nb ens ansikts sved (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · ru в по́те лица́ своего́ (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby) · pl w pocie czoła (effort extended in labour, and the value created thereby)