by the sweat of one's brow

== English == === Etymology === A reference to Genesis 3:17 and 19 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “And unto Adam he [God] said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, [...] In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground: [...]”, meaning that due to disobedience to God, humans would henceforth have to exert labour for their food, causing their brows or foreheads to perspire. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈswɛt əv wɒnz ˈbɹaʊ/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈswɛt əv wʌnz ˈbɹaʊ/ Rhymes: -aʊ === Noun === sweat of one's brow (uncountable) (idiomatic) The effort extended in (often manual) labour, and the value created thereby. Synonyms: (obsolete) sweat of one's brows, sweat of one's face 1991 March 27, Sandra Day O'Connor writing for the Supreme Court of the United States in Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co.: Making matters worse, these courts developed a new theory to justify the protection of factual compilations. Known alternatively as "sweat of the brow" or "industrious collection," the underlying notion was that copyright was a reward for the hard work that went into compiling facts. ==== Related terms ==== sweat of the brow ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === “the sweat of somebody's brow” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman. “by the sweat of your brow” (US) / “by the sweat of your brow” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary. “by the sweat of one’s brow”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.