well-oiled

well oiled

1. Operating very smoothly or efficiently. Sometimes hyphenated (and always before a noun). Their whole campaign has been well-oiled from the very beginning. The company has become a well-oiled machine under her direction.
2. Drunk. Sometimes hyphenated (and always before a noun). We spent the evening getting well oiled on local liqueurs. Several well-oiled patrons stumbled out of the bar, itching for a fight.
See also: oiled, well
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

well-oiled

1. mod. alcohol intoxicated. He was well-oiled and couldn’t stand up.
2. mod. talkative. She was sure well-oiled. I thought she’d never stop talking.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • in demand
  • bleeding edge
  • hit and miss
  • hit or miss
  • hit-and-miss
  • third world
  • flat chat
  • flat strap
  • bowler hat (one) out (of something or some place)
  • cop on
References in periodicals archive
Now it's a case of everyone acknowledging exactly what they are, which is a proper well-oiled machine," he said.
Cooking up an UPSET; WIGAN'S SCOUSE BOSS READY TO 'GIVE IT A GO' AGAINST 'PHENOMENAL' CITY IN FA CUP CLASH
"We definitely didn't play football like they do now - Town now are a well-oiled machine and knock it around really well.
Spirit of Terriers' lives on; TOWN'S '95 WEMBLEY HERO CHRIS BILLY SEES SIMILARITIES BETWEEN WARNOCK'S WINNERS AND THE CURRENT TOWN SIDE
There is so much to say about all that is wrong with using mechanical terminology like "well-oiled machines" when talking about todays organizations that I am not even going to go there.
Hierarchy among employees: Not a machine, but a ballet
"This is to be expected given that GCSEs and A-levels are delivered by a well-oiled machine, where issues are relatively few and far between.
Exam results will be reliable, says QW chief
"Even economies in the well-oiled categories, such as the UAE, should not rest on their laurels," Riedl said.
UAE, Qatar the Mideast's top internet economies
"And behind the scenes, a well-oiled machine is the phrase that they all use I think, and that's what it is."
Waygood hails GB's 'well-oiled' machine
NEW ZEALAND'S well-oiled limited-overs machine purred into life in a cosy seven-wicket win over India in the first Twenty20 match yesterday.
Cricket: Guptill can continue to star; 2ND TWENTY20 MATCH Sky Sports 1, 6am, tomorrow
Taking the prize for biggest prat of the festival weekend, a well-oiled Marc stood in the front row with Cerys' daughter Glenys on his shoulders.
Marc Bannerman
Some of the show-stopper numbers like The Sun In The Morning and You Can't Get A Man With A Gun make you sit up and take notice - but in general this is a show that runs like a well-oiled machine without actually offering the tingle that would lift it up a notch.
Annie lacks fizz; ANNIE, GET YOUR GUN The Arcadians, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham REVIEW
With well-oiled aplomb, Jodidio traces Calatrava's trajectory from the genuinely iconoclastic Stadelhofen Station to the monumental bombast of recent years.
From Calatrava Complete Works 1979-2007
Even when a friend helped her to find the way out, the well-oiled singer made sure her nails were well out of the way - maybe the paint hadn't dried.
3AM: HARD AS NAILS
poetry nor is it meant to be but given his meals are well-oiled his
Oil
WIDOWER Frank Beardsley (Dennis Quaid) is an admiral in the United States Coast Guard who runs his family of eight kids like a well-oiled machine.
Videos: Familiar family hokum; YOURS, MINE & OURS ***** PG
When two independent Blaenau Gwent candidates can destroy a well-oiled political machine with its readily available resources and rolling in its many heavyweights to support the cause then, truly, democracy is the winner.
Letters What goes around comes around
It's taken rather a few too many mistakes by the current administration to dislodge the perception that they're a "well-oiled machine," just as it will likely require some time to dispel the notion that the Democratic Party has no ideas.
The party faithful