sweaternoun/ˈswɛtə/

• 1

  A knitted jacket or jersey, usually of thick wool, worn by athletes before or after exercise.

• 2

  A similar garment worn for warmth.

  • We could slip away / Wouldn't that be better? / Me with nothing to say / And you in your autumn sweater
• 3

  One who sweats (produces sweat).

  • The cardiologist who administered Alex's exercise stress test on August 21 observed during that test that Alex was a profuse sweater.
• 4

  One who or that which causes to sweat.

  • We learn of the cruelty of some school or child-factory from journalists; we learn it from inspectors, we learn it from doctors, we learn it even from shame-stricken schoolmasters and repentant sweaters; but we never learn it from the children; we never learn it from the victims.
• 5

  A diaphoretic remedy.

• 6

  historicalAn exploitative middleman who subcontracted piece work in the tailoring trade.

  • If the piecework system had not existed there never would have been any sweatees. The men who are sweaters, I am sorry to say, are men who formerly belonged to our union.
• 7

  archaicOne who sweats coins, i.e. removes small portions by shaking them.

• 8

  obsoleteA London street ruffian in Queen Anne's time who prodded passers-by with his sword-point.

  • Among them were the "sweaters" who formed a circle round their prisoner and pricked him with their swords until he sank exhausted to the ground, […]

sweaterverb/ˈswɛtə/

• 1

  To dress in a sweater.