elbow grease
strenuous physical exertion: a job requiring elbow grease.
Origin of elbow grease
1Words Nearby elbow grease
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use elbow grease in a sentence
No matter the season, no matter the baker’s skill level, no matter the style of cake, there will inevitably be a delirious scramble to cool a cake through the velocity of a baking sheet and the sheer power of elbow grease.
Does That Crazy Sheet Pan Waving Trick on the ‘Great British Bake-Off’ Actually Work? | Dayna Evans | November 23, 2021 | EaterAs you could probably guess, the big difference between these two options is how much elbow grease you feel like putting into grinding your beans.
Best coffee grinder: Start your morning right with the best cup of joe | Carla Sosenko | August 26, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThe tools don’t require batteries—they run on elbow grease—which is fine for a basic repair kit.
Best tool combo kits: Take on any project with these power tool sets | Florie Korani | August 14, 2021 | Popular-ScienceHigh-pressure concentrated steam wipes out dirt with no additional cleaning solvent or elbow grease required.
Best steam cleaner: For floors and furniture that look close to new | PopSci Commerce Team | March 5, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThere was an old adage to the effect that some imaginary substance called elbow grease was necessary in kneading bread.
There it is; that's Injun tan, an' I hope you see that elbow grease is the main thing in tannin'.
Two Little Savages | Ernest Thompson Seton"Laws, honey, dey need elbow-grease," and the old woman laughed heartily.
A Little Girl in Old New York | Amanda Millie Douglas"Put a little more elbow grease to it," continued the burnisher's wife.
Vandover and the Brute | Frank NorrisThe elbow-grease of thinking was always distasteful to him, and had no doubt been so when he conceived and carried out this work.
Thackeray | Anthony Trollope
British Dictionary definitions for elbow grease
facetious vigorous physical labour, esp hard rubbing
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for elbow grease
Strenuous physical effort: “If you're going to get this job done, you'll need to apply a little elbow grease.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with elbow grease
Strenuous physical effort, as in You'll have to use some elbow grease to get the house painted in time. This term alludes to vigorous use of one's arm in cleaning, polishing, or the like. It soon was extended to any kind of hard work, and Anthony Trollope used it still more figuratively (Thackeray, 1874): “Forethought is the elbow-grease which a novelist ... requires.” [First half of 1600s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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