1. A hut or other structure in which hot-air or vapor baths are taken, among the N. American Indians and other primitive tribes.
1750. C. Gist, Jrnls. (1893), 33. I … sweated myself according to the Indian Custom in a Sweat-house.
1877. G. Gibbs, Tribes Washington, 208. Their sweat-houses are partially excavated in the ground, just large enough to contain the body of one person.
1898. J. Heron, Celtic Church Irel., I. ii. 39. Perhaps the most singular of primitive Irish structures is the Teach-an-alais, or ‘sweat-house.’
2. Tanning. A building in which hides are sweated: see SWEAT v. 13.
