grease the wheels

1. Also, oil the wheels. Make things run smoothly, as in You can count on Ben to grease the wheels so we'll be waited on promptly. This metaphoric expression transfers literal lubrication to figurative. [Mid-1600s]

Example Sentences

It helped that the production had Lewis Hamilton, one of the best drivers in the history of the sport, on board as a producer to help grease the wheels with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body of F1.

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Yet as long as unemployment remains low, Americans should have enough confidence to keep spending to grease the wheels of the economy.

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But as Douthat knows, some pretense is always necessary to grease the wheels of personal relations, especially of diplomacy.

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And that while he has made a tactical decision – essentially, using a defence spending hike to grease the wheels of his meeting with President Trump - she maintains that the PM has made a strategic error which could bolster Russia and China's global influence.

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“By late summer, President Trump starts to grease the wheels for excuses if he lost,” says Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served in 2020 as White House director of strategic communications and assistant to the president.

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Related Words

• aid 
• back 
• benefit 
• boost 
• cooperate 
• expedite 
• facilitate 
• reinforce 
• support 
• sustain 
• take care of