elbow grease
hard work
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Seven years, dozens of students and a whole lot of ELBOW GREASE later, an electric car designed and built by Brigham Young University engineering students has set a world land speed record for its weight class after averaging 155.8 mph over its two qualifying runs.
(Houston Chronicle)
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Forethought is the ELBOW GREASE which a novelist, or poet, or dramatist requires.
- English novelist William Thackery
(Houston Chronicle)
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Forethought is the ELBOW GREASE which a novelist, or poet, or dramatist requires.
- English novelist William Thackery
Did you
know?
elbow grease
idiom
- strenuous physical labor and effort
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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The expression elbow grease is a lot older than one might think. It was recorded as far back the 17th century. British writer and poet Andrew Marvell wrote in 1672: "Two or three brawny fellows with ink and elbow grease do more harm than a hundred systematical divines with their sweaty preaching."
Elbow grease long referred to vigorous rubbing to get something clean, which led to the old proverb "elbow grease is the best brand of furniture polish." It meanwhile refers to hard physical labour in general or to a lot of effort.
Both elbow and grease appear in several other idioms, but it doesn't take any elbow grease to find them. We've done the work for you:
- elbow someone out of something = to force or pressure someone out of something, such as a job or status (The board managed to elbow out the unpopular CEO)
- bend one's elbow = to take a drink of an alcoholic beverage (Let's bend an elbow at the pub after work)
- rub elbows with someone = to associate with someone (This trade fair is a great way to rub elbows with the experts)
- grease the skids = to help prepare the way for something to succeed (Ask Tom to grease the skids for the new contract)
- like greased lightning = very fast (My new car runs like greased lightning)
- grease someone's palm = to pay someone to do something, usually illegal (In some countries you have to grease the palms of the politicians if you want to do business)
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SYNONYMS
blood, sweat and tears, muscle, sweat, toil, sweat of one's brow, hard work
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It takes a lot of elbow grease to restore a classic automobile."
idiom
- strenuous physical labor and effort
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
The expression elbow grease is a lot older than one might think. It was recorded as far back the 17th century. British writer and poet Andrew Marvell wrote in 1672: "Two or three brawny fellows with ink and elbow grease do more harm than a hundred systematical divines with their sweaty preaching."
Elbow grease long referred to vigorous rubbing to get something clean, which led to the old proverb "elbow grease is the best brand of furniture polish." It meanwhile refers to hard physical labour in general or to a lot of effort.
Both elbow and grease appear in several other idioms, but it doesn't take any elbow grease to find them. We've done the work for you:
- elbow someone out of something = to force or pressure someone out of something, such as a job or status (The board managed to elbow out the unpopular CEO)
- bend one's elbow = to take a drink of an alcoholic beverage (Let's bend an elbow at the pub after work)
- rub elbows with someone = to associate with someone (This trade fair is a great way to rub elbows with the experts)
- grease the skids = to help prepare the way for something to succeed (Ask Tom to grease the skids for the new contract)
- like greased lightning = very fast (My new car runs like greased lightning)
- grease someone's palm = to pay someone to do something, usually illegal (In some countries you have to grease the palms of the politicians if you want to do business)
---
SYNONYMS
blood, sweat and tears, muscle, sweat, toil, sweat of one's brow, hard work
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"It takes a lot of elbow grease to restore a classic automobile."
