grease

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman grece, from Old French graisse, from Vulgar Latin *grassia, from Latin crassus (“fat, thick”).

Pronunciation

Noun

• (UK, US) enPR: grēs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːs
• Homophone: Greece

Verb

• (UK) enPR: grēs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːs/
• (US) enPR: grēs, grēz, IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːs/, /ɡɹiːz/
• Rhymes: -iːs (UK, US)
• Rhymes: -iːz (US)

Noun

grease (countable and uncountable, plural greases)

1. Animal fat in a melted or soft state
2. (extension) Any oily or fatty matter.
3. Shorn but not yet cleansed wool
4. Inflammation of a horse's heels, also known as scratches or pastern dermatitis.

Verb

grease (third-person singular simple present greases, present participle greasing, simple past and past participle greased)

1. (transitive) To put grease or fat on something, especially in order to lubricate.
2. (transitive, informal) To bribe.
   • Dryden

     the greased advocate that grinds the poor

   • 2008, Byron Archibald Dunn, With Lyon in Missouri:

     Then you remember we greased him to the tune of five hundred.

   • 2009, Dan Richardson, GOG - an End Time Mystery:

     His employee status didn't entitle him to one, but Magdy on reception would slip him a key if Sabr greased him with a fifty.

3. (transitive, slang, aviation) To perform a landing extraordinarily smoothly.

   To my amazement, I greased the landing despite the tricky crosswinds.

4. (transitive, slang) To kill, murder.

   Fat cats who can't be greased by the mob's money are greased the hard way.

5. (obsolete) To cheat or cozen; to overreach.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Beaumont and Fletcher to this entry?)

6. To affect (a horse) with grease, the disease.

Anagrams

• Eagers, Saeger, Seager, aegers, agrees, eagers, eagres, geares, searge, ægers