English · Idiom Candidate

elbow grease

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

hard work and effort

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

công việc và nỗ lực chăm chỉ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: grease from the elbow

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She put a lot of elbow grease into her project.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Labour. Elbow grease will make an oak table shine.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Lao động

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Sense 3

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

labour, or industry. Anything that is rusty, or in household work dirty or dingy, is said to require ELBOW GREASE.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

lao động, công nghiệp

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Arms Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “elbow grease” mean?

hard work and effort Literally: grease from the elbow

Is “elbow grease” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.