also: れいかん
noun
cold sweat
Refers to sweat caused by fear, nervousness, or illness, not physical cold. Often used in phrases like 冷や汗をかく (to break out in a cold sweat).
試験中に冷や汗が出た。
I broke out in a cold sweat during the exam.
彼は冷や汗をかきながら謝った。
He apologized while breaking into a cold sweat.
Standard common spelling with high frequency.
Alternate kanji spelling; also read れいかん in some contexts.
Rare Sino-Japanese reading, mainly in literary or technical contexts.
汗 is general sweat; 冷や汗 specifically refers to cold sweat from anxiety or illness.
Compound of 冷や (hiya, 'cold') + 汗 (ase, 'sweat'). The reading れいかん is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi of the same kanji.