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

Put your elbow grease toward the upper bounds versus the lower bounds. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024

Stubborn sap can be removed from pruners and other tools with Goo Gone or similar products and a little elbow grease. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Dec. 2024

A lot of elbow grease and hard work will be necessary to get our ducks lined up for AGI. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024

Unlike traditional mascaras—with pigments that can smudge, flake, and take some elbow grease to remove—tubing mascaras contain polymers that coat lashes without smudging and come off easily in warm water. —Allure Editors, Allure, 1 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1672, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

elbow grease

noun

: forceful effort in doing physical labor