shvitz

plural shvitzes · alternative schvitz · alternative schwitz

1. countableuncountableSweat.

   I know this is a very silly thing, but when you have a big ape getup on like Kevin, or even me under Brain Guy makeup, it gets shvitz-y in there very quickly.

   2026 September 3, Bill Corbett, “The RiffTrax guys on getting back in the puppet trench for MST3K”, in The A. V. Club, retrieved 04 Sep 2026

2. countableuncountableA traditional Jewish steambath of Eastern European origin.

   It was not, or not only, the heat and ripeness of the shvitz that were making Litvak’s pulse thrum and his head spin.

   2007, Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, 4th Estate (2010), page 343

3. broadlycountableuncountableA sauna or sauna session.

   “Hey, hey, Jimmy Brogan. Thanks for meeting me.” “Welcome to the schvitz, kid. The most comfortable place on Earth. It's like crawling back into your mother.” “Is that something people wanna do?”

   2013 November 12, Gabe Liedman, “Old School” (15:48 from the start), in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season 1, episode 8, spoken by Jimmy Brogan (Stacy Keach)

present singular third person shvitzes · participle present shvitzing · participle past shvitzed · past shvitzed · alternative schvitz · alternative schwitz

1. informalintransitiveTo sweat.

   Soon, the '80s and '90s guy was finding drums to pound and sweat lodges in which to shvitz out rivulets of shame.

   2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties