as in effort
the active use of energy in producing a result
with a little polish and a lot of elbow grease, I was able to make the old silver teapot shine again
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Recent Examples of elbow grease
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
See all Example Sentences for elbow grease 
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
See all Example Sentences for elbow grease
Thesaurus Entries Near elbow grease
Cite this Entry
“Elbow grease.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elbow%20grease. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.
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