sweat hole

Meanings

1. An opening in the skin through which sweat is excreted; pore.

1. A large hole in the ground, heated with a fire, into which a sick person is brought wrapped in blankets (once the fire is removed), with a jug of water for making steam, the whole covered by an awning to hold the steam in; an underground sweat lodge.
2. An uncomfortably hot enclosed space.

Etymology

From Middle English swet hole, a partial calque of Old English swātþyrl (“pore”, literally “sweat-hole”). Cognate with German Schweißloch (“pore, sweat hole”), Danish swedehul (“pore”), Icelandic svitahola (“pore”).