elbow grease

noun

: hard work

There is just no substitution for the elbow grease involved in promotion. You just have to get out there and work hard to get the word to the stores that the book is available.

—Andy Shafran

especially : vigorously applied physical labor or effort

Best of all, the metal handle is bendable, making it easy to defat liquids of varying depths. Kudos to a kitchen tool that spares elbow grease.

—Grace Young

Synonyms

• effort
• exertion
• expenditure
• labor
• pains
• sweat
• trouble
• while
• work

Examples of elbow grease in a Sentence

It's going to take some elbow grease to get this counter clean.

with a little polish and a lot of elbow grease, I was able to make the old silver teapot shine again

Recent Examples on the Web

Some elbow grease and astute prudence can get things back in proper gear. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025

Gather your equipment Common household cleaners, like a bleach solution, and some elbow grease can absolutely help you for surface mold. —Bridget Reed Morawski, Architectural Digest, 14 Jan. 2025

Overall, though, the OXO Good Grips Microfiber Spray Mop was easy to set up, lightweight to use, easy to clean, and most importantly, got stains out of floors with relatively no elbow grease. —Lauren Finney Harden, Southern Living, 12 Jan. 2025

My only qualm has to do with the product’s ability to layer over other serums — if applied too quickly on top of one, the Rich Cream takes some elbow grease to melt into my skin. —Claire Sullivan, WWD, 2 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1672, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

elbow grease

noun

: forceful effort in doing physical labor