grease the wheels
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grease the wheels
Where it comes from
By a metaphor in which facilitating human socioeconomic interaction, or any other process or system, is portrayed as lubricating machinery; in this regard, compare also lubrication payment and social lubricant.
verb greases the wheels · greasing the wheels · greased the wheels
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To create conditions likely to produce or hasten favorable future developments.
Once a way of greasing the wheels of a gruesome bureaucracy, bribery has now become part of the cost of doing business.
Similar: pave the way, set the stage
Talk about this word "grease the wheels." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/grease%20the%20wheels. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. grease the wheels. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/grease%20the%20wheels "grease the wheels." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/grease%20the%20wheels.Cite this
@misc{grease_the_wheels_2026,
title = {grease the wheels},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/grease%20the%20wheels},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
