elbow grease, to use
elbow grease
1. Vigorous scrubbing, typically to clean something. You'll never get that rust off without some elbow grease.
2. By extension, any strenuous, effortful physical work needed to do or accomplish something. It took some elbow grease, but I finally got this old engine up and running again. I know we're running out of time, but if we all use a bit of elbow grease, I think we'll be able to get the house built before the deadline.
See also: elbow, grease
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
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
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
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]
See also: elbow, grease
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
elbow grease
Elbow grease is the hard physical work of cleaning something. It took a considerable amount of polish and elbow grease before the brass shone like new. These products are designed to take the elbow grease out of cleaning.
See also: elbow, grease
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
ˈelbow grease
(informal) the effort used in physical work, especially in cleaning: The bath was so old and stained that we couldn’t get it clean no matter how much elbow grease we used.See also: elbow, grease
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
elbow grease, to use
To apply physical effort. It has been said that this expression, dating from the seventeenth century, originally referred to a joke played on a new apprentice, who was sent out to a shop to purchase “elbow grease.” Originally meaning simply to use one’s arm vigorously in scrubbing or polishing, it soon was transferred to other kinds of effort as well. “Forethought is the elbow-grease which a novelist—or poet, or dramatist—requires,” said Anthony Trollope (Thackeray, 1874).
See also: elbow, use
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- elbow grease
- elbow-grease
- scour (something) off of (something else)
- use (a little) (bit of) elbow grease
- use some elbow grease
- scour out of
- scour (something) out of (something else)
- scrape (something) out of (something)
- scrape out of
- scour out