break a sweat

present singular third person breaks a sweat · participle present breaking a sweat · past broke a sweat · participle past broken a sweat

1. To start sweating, especially due to physical exertion.

   The work was hard enough that he broke a sweat.

   1 more example

   Are you feeling stronger and more energetic, and even—dare I say it—breaking a sweat? No, not a pink-faced, dripping sweat; nevertheless, a little dewy under the arms and around your forehead.

   2001, Karon Karter, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Pilates Method, →ISBN, page 119

2. idiomaticTo put effort into something; to struggle.

   He always succeeds effortlessly and never breaks a sweat.

   4 more examples

   She didn't miss a line in the shower, getting through the performance without breaking a sweat.

   They're gonna have to break a sweat in order to finish the project on time.

   Consider, for instance, that Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Marat Safin and even the supposedly out-of-sorts Lleyton Hewitt all won the opening set of their first-round matches 6-0 before barely breaking a sweat in the two sets that followed.

   2008 January 17, Richard Hinds, “Walkovers blaze a trail for women's equal-pay theory”, in The Age, Australia

   I've stumbled over gaming's simplest hurdles, been humiliated by the lowliest of enemies and will often go for an easy mode if one's available, and yet I've run through Bloodborne twice without ever really breaking much of a sweat.

   2018 March 6, Martin Robinson, “Dispelling the myths of Bloodborne”, in Eurogamer