elbow grease

noun

: hard work

There is just no substitution for the elbow grease involved in promotion. You just have to get out there and work hard to get the word to the stores that the book is available.

—Andy Shafran

especially : vigorously applied physical labor or effort

Best of all, the metal handle is bendable, making it easy to defat liquids of varying depths. Kudos to a kitchen tool that spares elbow grease.

—Grace Young

Synonyms

• effort
• exertion
• expenditure
• labor
• pains
• sweat
• trouble
• while
• work

Examples of elbow grease in a Sentence

It's going to take some elbow grease to get this counter clean.

with a little polish and a lot of elbow grease, I was able to make the old silver teapot shine again

Recent Examples on the Web

This is not virtual, so prepare to put in some elbow grease. —Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 28 Apr. 2025

Pump or manual sprayers require the most elbow grease but are also the cheapest. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2025

Thankfully, there are dedicated mold cleaners that get the job done without all the elbow grease on your part. —Bestreviews, Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2025

For spring cleaning gadgets, try this Roomba robot vacuum to make messes disappear without any elbow grease, as well as the Swiffer PowerMop to make floors really sparkle. —Clara McMahon, People.com, 18 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1672, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for elbow grease

• altarpiece
• centerpiece
• frontispiece
• mantelpiece
• masterpiece
• pilates
• summarise
• syntheses
• apiece
• aris
• assise
• caprice

Kids Definition

elbow grease

noun

: forceful effort in doing physical labor