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

Sometimes, this can involve a minor touch-up, such as adding a bit of fresh soil, but at other times, these maintenance tasks require more elbow grease and finesse. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 June 2025

How To Clean The Inside Of A Glass Oven Door Cleaning the inside of your oven door is easy but may require some elbow grease. —Daley Quinn, Southern Living, 19 June 2025

Made to wrap around each individual lash and wash away with warm water, tubing mascaras don’t require much elbow grease to apply or remove. —Sara Coughlin, SELF, 3 Apr. 2025

For the ultimate cheap, minimalist, homemade cleaning solution, baking soda and vinegar paired with elbow grease will do the trick for many tasks (though baking soda can harm certain materials like aluminum, so do your research). —Louryn Strampe, Wired News, 22 Apr. 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