elbow grease

Elbow grease is the hard physical work that's often required to get a difficult task done. It might take some serious elbow grease, but you can get your house painted by the end of the week.

You can use the idiom elbow grease when you talk about working up a sweat or putting in some manual labor to complete a task. If your little brother complains that mowing the lawn is too hard, you might say, "It just takes a little elbow grease!" The English poet Andrew Marvell used the word in 1672, and in 1699 it appeared in the "New Dictionary of the Canting Crew" with the definition "a derisory Term for Sweat."

Definitions of elbow grease
  1. noun
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work
    synonyms: effort, exertion, sweat, travail
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    types:
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    struggle
    strenuous effort
    difficulty, trouble
    an effort that is inconvenient
    least effort, least resistance
    the least effortful way to do something
    strain, straining
    an intense or violent exertion
    exercise, exercising, physical exercise, physical exertion, workout
    the activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit
    pull
    a sustained effort
    application, diligence
    a diligent effort
    overkill
    any effort that seems to go farther than would be necessary to achieve its goal
    supererogation
    an effort above and beyond the call of duty
    overexertion
    excessive exertion; so much exertion that discomfort or injury results
    detrition, friction, rubbing
    effort expended in moving one object over another with pressure
    attrition
    the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction
    cardiopulmonary exercise
    exercise intended to strengthen the circulatory system
    gymnastic exercise
    (gymnastics) an exercise designed to develop and display strength and agility and balance (usually performed with or on some gymnastic apparatus)
    kick up
    raising the feet backward with the hands on the ground; a first movement in doing a handstand
    grapple, grappling, hand-to-hand struggle, wrestle, wrestling
    the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat
    the devil
    something difficult or awkward to do or deal with
    tsuris
    (Yiddish) aggravating trouble
    exercise set, set
    several exercises intended to be done in series
    anaerobic exercise, bodybuilding, muscle building, musclebuilding
    exercise that builds muscles through tension
    calisthenics, callisthenics
    light exercises designed to promote general fitness
    isometric exercise, isometrics
    muscle-building exercises (or a system of musclebuilding exercises) involving muscular contractions against resistance without movement (the muscles contracts but the length of the muscle does not change)
    isotonic exercise
    exercise in which opposing muscles contract and there is controlled movement (tension is constant while the lengths of the muscles change)
    Kegel exercises, pubococcygeus exercises
    exercises for women designed to improve the ability to hold urine
    stretch, stretching
    exercise designed to extend the limbs and muscles to their full extent
    arm exercise
    exercise designed to strengthen the arm muscles
    back exercise
    exercise designed to strengthen the back muscles
    leg exercise
    exercise designed to strengthen the leg muscles
    neck exercise
    exercise designed to strengthen the neck muscles
    stomach exercise, tummy crunch
    an exercise designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles
    yoga
    a system of exercises practiced as part of the Hindu discipline to promote control of the body and mind
    type of:
    labor, labour, toil
    productive work (especially physical work done for wages)
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