sweatbox

noun

sweat·​box ˈswet-ˌbäks How to pronounce sweatbox (audio)
1
: a place in which one is made to sweat
especially : a narrow box or cell in which a prisoner is placed for punishment
2
: a device for sweating something (such as hides in tanning or dried figs)

Examples of sweatbox in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
His destination sweatbox combines a gym with longevity protocols (such as tracking health data on Oura devices; an in-house flotation tank) and includes on-staff PTs. Mark Ellwood, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Sep. 2024 So on the sweatbox of the festival red carpet, the options offered by fashion labels to their celebrity ambassadors hasn’t exactly been loose light linens or breezy cotton fabrics. Alex Ritman, Variety, 3 Sep. 2024 The stages are no longer sweatbox nightclubs occupied by dozens (like the ones depicted in 2002’s 8 Mile), but rather online spaces with an audience in the billions. C. Brandon Ogbunu, WIRED, 6 May 2024 From the photos of the joint, Howard’s definitely looks like a sweatbox, and AceMo came prepared. Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 22 Aug. 2023 Those sweatbox sessions turn addicts into athletes, and athletes into CrossFit assassins. Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 1 July 2023 During a recent weekend stay in what is called the Dwarf’s Room — probably because the entrance to the bathroom is, for some reason, about four feet high — the heat was either off, and the room freezing, or on, and the room a sweatbox. David Segal, New York Times, 1 May 2023 How Beau gets home, eventually, provides the quest in writer-director Ari Aster’s sweatbox of anxieties. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 19 Apr. 2023 In this rickety sweatbox club, several micro-generations of musicians divined an experimental fusion of hip-hop, electronic, jazz, R&B and psychedelia. Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sweatbox was in 1864

Dictionary Entries Near sweatbox

Cite this Entry

“Sweatbox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweatbox. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!