elbow grease

elbow grease

noun

Definition of ELBOW GREASE

: vigorously applied physical labor : hard work

Examples of ELBOW GREASE

1. It's going to take some elbow grease to get this counter clean.
2. <with a little polish and a lot of elbow grease, I was able to make the old silver teapot shine again>

First Known Use of ELBOW GREASE

1672

Related to ELBOW GREASE

Synonyms: effort, exertion, expenditure, labor, pains, sweat, trouble, while, work

Related Words: drudgery, grind, slog, strain, toil, travail; dint, energy; force, might, muscle, power, puissance; attempt, endeavor, essay, fling, go, pass, shot, stab, trial, try, whack

Near Antonyms: adroitness, ease, facility, fluency, smoothness; dormancy, idleness, inaction, inactivity, indolence, inertia, languor, laziness, quiescence

[+]more[-]hide