grease (redirected from grease the wheels)

elbow grease

Fig. hard scrubbing. Tom: What did you use to get your car so shiny? Mary: Just regular wax and some elbow grease. Joe put a lot of elbow grease into cleaning the kitchen.

See also: elbow

grease someone's palm and oil someone's palm

Fig. to bribe someone. If you want to get something done around here, you have to grease someone's palm. I'd never oil a police officer's palm. That's illegal.

See also: palm

grease the skids

Fig. to help prepare for or ease the way for the success or failure of someone or something. Ray set out to grease the skids for the right things to happen. We need someone to grease the skids for the Wilson contract.

See also: skid

like greased lightning

Rur. very fast. Once I get her tuned up, this old car will go like greased lightning. He's a fat kid, but he can run like greased lightning.

See also: lightning, like

use some elbow grease

Fig. use some effort, as in scrubbing something. (As if lubricating one's elbow would make one more efficient. Note the variations in the examples.) Come on, Bill. You can do it. Just use some elbow grease. I tried elbow grease, but it doesn't help get the job done.

See also: elbow, some, use

---

elbow grease  (humorous)

hard work, especially when you are cleaning something With determination and elbow grease we soon transformed the filthy kitchen.

See also: elbow

grease somebody's palm

to give money to someone in authority in order to persuade them to do something for you, especially something wrong Drug barons were greasing the palm of the chief of police.

See also: palm

like greased lightning  (old-fashioned)

if someone does something like greased lightning, they do it very quickly I mentioned work and he was out of the room like greased lightning.

See also: lightning, like

---

grease somebody's palm also grease the palm of somebody

to give someone money to persuade them to do what you want Some of those candidates spent money greasing the palms of local political bosses.

See also: palm