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sweatbox

sweatbox

9.3
A closed box where tobacco leaves, fruit, or animal skins are kept hot to help cure them
  • noun
  • /ˈswɛtˌbɑks/
  • Archaic
translation icon : caja de sudor
  • The farmer used a sweatbox to cure the tobacco leaves he harvested last season.

Examples

  • To process the animal hides, they put them in a sweatbox to ensure proper sweating.

  • In the old workshop, a sweatbox was essential for conditioning the fruit before drying.

  • What are you making at that sweatbox anyway?

  • This is a sweatbox.

    Fiction book (1993)

Surface Forms

sweatbox singular
sweatboxes plural

Morphology

sweatbox = sweat + box (semi-transparent) = sweat + box

While the components 'sweat' and 'box' are clear, the specific application to curing processes is specialized.

Etymology

Sweatbox comes from the simple parts sweat ('to sweat' or 'become moist') and box ('a container'). It names a box used to make tobacco, fruit, or hides warm and damp so they 'sweat' and can be cured or processed.