to braise / to swelter
Loading your saved state.
to braise
To cook a food, usually meat or vegetables, slowly over moderate heat in a covered pot with a little liquid. This makes it especially tender and flavorful.
Die Köchin lässt den Rinderbraten drei Stunden im eigenen Saft schmoren.
The cook lets the roast beef braise in its own juices for three hours.
You can recognize the meaning of 'schmoren' (to braise / to swelter) from the context. If it is about food, it refers to the literal cooking method. In the expression 'jemanden schmoren lassen' (to leave someone hanging), it is an idiom. If someone is talking about heat, it is colloquial for 'schwitzen' (to sweat).
Der Gulasch muss zwei Stunden schmoren.
The goulash has to braise for two hours.
In the kitchen, 'schmoren' (to braise) is often associated with meat dishes like 'Braten' (roast) or 'Gulasch' (goulash). A very typical expression is also 'im eigenen Saft schmoren' (to braise in its own juices), which means that no additional liquid is added.
Für das Sonntagsessen schmort ein Braten im Ofen.
A roast is braising in the oven for Sunday dinner.
The idiom has a fixed structure: 'jemanden (Akkusativ) schmoren lassen' (to leave someone hanging). The person who is left in uncertainty is always in the accusative.
Der Chef ließ die Bewerber eine Woche auf die Antwort warten und hat sie richtig schmoren lassen.
The boss made the applicants wait a week for the answer and really left them hanging.
The meaning 'to suffer because of heat' is colloquial. You use it in conversation with friends or family, but usually not in a formal text.
In diesem Auto ohne Klimaanlage müssen wir jetzt zwei Stunden schmoren.
In this car without air conditioning, we now have to swelter for two hours.
to sweat
'schwitzen' and 'schmoren' can both have to do with intense heat and discomfort. 'schwitzen' directly describes the body producing sweat, for example because of heat, exercise, or fear. In this relation, 'schmoren' is colloquial and figurative: you are sitting or standing in intense heat and feel as if you were slowly cooking. 'schwitzen' is neutral and fits in almost any situation. 'schmoren' sounds stronger and a bit more casual when you want to emphasize the heat.
In der Mittagssonne schmoren wir auf dem heißen Bahnsteig.
We are sweltering on the hot platform in the midday sun.
Nach der Arbeit schwitzt Anna im vollen Bus.
After work, Anna sweats on the crowded bus.