elbow grease

See synonyms for elbow grease on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. strenuous physical exertion: a job requiring elbow grease.

Origin of elbow grease

1
First recorded in 1630–40

Words 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

  • 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 Norris
  • The 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

elbow grease

noun
  1. 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

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

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.