grease
Americannoun
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the melted or rendered fat of animals, especially when in a soft state.
She always saves the bacon grease to fry her eggs and potatoes in.
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fatty or oily matter in general; lubricant.
The auto mechanic’s overalls were stained with engine grease and motor oil.
The golfer admitted to using a little grease on the face of his driver to reduce sidespin.
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Informal. a bribe.
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Also called grease wool. shorn wool before being cleaned of the oily matter.
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Also called grease-heel. Veterinary Pathology. inflammation of a horse's skin in the fetlock region, accompanied by an oily secretion.
verb (used with object)
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to lubricate by putting a fatty or oily substance on.
I think I need to grease my bike chain a little—it’s not moving smoothly.
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to smear or cover with a fatty or oily substance.
Grease the baking sheet before spooning the dough onto it.
In pioneer days they sometimes made windows out of greased paper.
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to cause to occur easily or smoothly; facilitate.
Extra incentives were offered to grease the trade deal.
If it looks like it’ll be an awkward social engagement, he has a stiff drink first to grease the proceedings.
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Informal. to bribe.
idioms
noun
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animal fat in a soft or melted condition
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any thick fatty oil, esp one used as a lubricant for machinery, etc
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Also called: grease wool. shorn fleece before it has been cleaned
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Also called: seborrhoea. vet science inflammation of the skin of horses around the fetlocks, usually covered with an oily secretion
verb
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to soil, coat, or lubricate with grease
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to ease the course of
his education greased his path to success
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slang to bribe; influence by giving money to
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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greaselessnessnoun
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regreaseverb (used with object)
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greaselessadjective
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greaseproofadjective
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ungreasedadjective
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well-greasedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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greasesimple
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greasessimple
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have greasedperfect
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has greasedperfect
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am greasingprogressive
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are greasingprogressive
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is greasingprogressive
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have been greasingperfect progressive
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has been greasingperfect progressive
Past
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greasedsimple
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had greasedperfect
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was greasingprogressive
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were greasingprogressive
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had been greasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of grease
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English grese, grece, greice from Anglo-French grece, gresse, Old French craisse ( French graisse ) from Vulgar Latin crassia (unrecorded), equivalent to Latin crass(us) fat, thick + -ia noun suffix
Explanation
Grease is the thick oil you use to make a machine work more smoothly. It's also the shiny, slick substance produced by cooking something in fat, like the grease on that fried chicken you made. As a verb, grease means to make something slick and oily so it can move more easily: "You should grease the hinges to stop the door from creaking." As a noun grease is the kind of oil or fat that's solid at room temperature, whether it's the grease you use to repair a car engine or the grease you use to deep fry onion rings. Colloquially, when you grease someone's palm, you offer them money as a bribe.
Vocabulary lists containing grease
List 3
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"Money"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Minutes into the climb, the plebes roll their T-shirts up and throw them, like emcees at a ball game, toward the base of the monument, where other midshipmen use them to wipe off the grease.
From Slate • Jun. 24, 2026
Close to 40 years later, liquid Tide offered better dissolvability and improved technology to wash grease and oil stains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
A spokesperson said the pollution could potentially be linked to food waste or grease entering the sea via the River Bann, but that the cause had not yet been confirmed.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
When we made it back home after being gone for two weeks, I had to put elbow grease into scrubbing the caked-on dog drool off the side of the car.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2026
Possibly he didn’t even know what bacon grease was.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
