elbow grease
/ˈelbəʊ ˌɡriːs/INFORMAL · C1
Meaning
hard physical effort, especially when cleaning
Examples
- 1The oven looked hopeless, but a bit of elbow grease made it shine again.
- 2Getting the old paint off the door took a lot of elbow grease.
- 3These pans can't go in the dishwasher, so they'll need some elbow grease.
- 4With enough elbow grease, the rusty bike looked almost new by Sunday.
- 5Forget fancy sprays; what this carpet really needs is elbow grease.
Grammar
An uncountable noun: no a and no plural. Often after some, a bit of or a lot of.
More idioms about the body
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →keep an eye onto watch or look after someone or somethingturn a blind eyeto ignore something that you know is wronggive someone a handto help someone, especially with a practical jobpull your legto joke with someone by telling them something untruea pain in the necka very annoying person or thingon the tip of your tonguealmost remembered, but not quite
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
Here you get a couple of questions. The app gives you 16 practice modes, native equivalents and spaced repetition that tells you when it’s time to refresh.
