as in effort
the active use of energy in producing a result
with a little polish and a lot of elbow grease, I was able to make the old silver teapot shine again
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Recent Examples of elbow grease
The formula will work overnight—and sans elbow grease—to keep your shower cleaner.
—
Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 10 May 2026
Forget pluck, elbow grease and a little old-fashioned hard work.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026
Obviously, Valve and SteamOS are just a small piece of the Linux gaming pie, and most Windows PCs can be turned into Linux systems with a USB stick and some elbow grease.
—ArsTechnica, 1 May 2026
These tasks take only a few minutes each when done weekly, but skipping them for a month or two is when buildup becomes the kind of problem that requires real elbow grease.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for elbow grease
Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 10 May 2026
Forget pluck, elbow grease and a little old-fashioned hard work.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026
Obviously, Valve and SteamOS are just a small piece of the Linux gaming pie, and most Windows PCs can be turned into Linux systems with a USB stick and some elbow grease.
—ArsTechnica, 1 May 2026
These tasks take only a few minutes each when done weekly, but skipping them for a month or two is when buildup becomes the kind of problem that requires real elbow grease.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 30 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for elbow grease
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elbow grease
Noun
-
Pan made national headlines during his time in Legislature for leading the state’s efforts to toughen school vaccine requirements.—
Mathew Miranda,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2026
-
Eco effort This is a fragile environment—Kerlingarfjöll was designated a Protected Nature Reserve by Umhverfisstofnun (the Environmental Agency of Iceland) in 2020.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
17 June 2026
Noun
-
That leaves little time for work, which can pose an additional financial burden.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
-
Republicans expanded work requirements for SNAP.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
19 June 2026
Noun
-
Saliba had been a concern after playing through back pains during Arsenal’s Champions League Final loss.—
Fiifi Frimpong,
New York Daily News,
13 June 2026
-
However, while yellow journalism often resulted in articles that were exaggerated or misleading, TMZ usually takes pains to be rigorous and accurate in its reporting.—
Angelica Kalika,
The Conversation,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Elbow grease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elbow%20grease. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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