grease

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English grese, grece, greice < Anglo-French grece, gresse, Old French craisse (French graisse) < Vulgar Latin *crassia, equivalent to Latin crass(us) fat, thick + -ia noun suffix

Related forms

grease·less, adjective

grease·less·ness, noun

grease·proof, adjective

re·grease, verb (used with object), re·greased, re·greas·ing.

un·greased, adjective

well-greased, adjective

Can be confused: grease, Greece.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Link To grease

Collins

World English Dictionary

grease

—n
1.	animal fat in a soft or melted condition
2.	any thick fatty oil, esp one used as a lubricant for machinery, etc
3.	Also called: grease wool shorn fleece before it has been cleaned
4.	vet science Also called: seborrhoea inflammation of the skin of horses around the fetlocks, usually covered with an oily secretion

—vb
5.	to soil, coat, or lubricate with grease
6.	to ease the course of: his education greased his path to success
7.	slang grease the palm of, grease the hand of to bribe; influence by giving money to

[C13: from Old French craisse, from Latin crassus thick]

'greaseless

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

grease

late 13c., from Anglo-Fr. grece, from O.Fr. graisse, from V.L. *crassia "(melted) animal fat, grease," from L. crassus "thick, solid, fat." Verb sense of "ply with bribe or protection money" is 1520s, from notion of grease the wheels "make things run smoothly" (mid-15c.). To grease (someone's) palm is

from 1580s. Greasy spoon "small cheap restaurant" is from 1925. Greaser, derogatory Amer.Eng. slang for "native Mexican or Latin American," first attested 1849.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Slang Dictionary

grease definition

n.
protection money; bribery money. (See also grease (so's) palm.) : See that the commissioner of the park district gets a little grease to help us get the contract.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

grease

In addition to the idioms beginning with grease, also see elbow grease; like greased lightning; squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

grease

thick, oily lubricant consisting of inedible lard, the rendered fat of waste animal parts, or a petroleum-derived or synthetic oil containing a thickening agent

Learn more about grease with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source

Example sentences

It absorbs odors and cuts through grease, and its gritty texture scrubs away

stubborn patches.

All but the tightest jeans require rolling up the pant leg to avoid chain

grease.

He took two large copper hemispheres with rims that fit tightly together,

sealed the rims with grease, and pumped out all the air.

Can't trust them not to grease the skids for the final exit of the troublesome

poor.