grease

English

Etymology

From Middle English grece (“grease”), from Anglo-Norman grece, from Old French graisse, from Vulgar Latin *grassia, from Latin crassus (“fat, thick”). Doublet of crass.

Pronunciation

Noun

(General American) enPR: grēs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹis/
(UK) enPR: grēs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːs/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -iːs
Homophone: Greece

Verb

(UK) enPR: grēs, IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːs/
(General American) enPR: grēs, grēz, IPA^(key): /ɡɹis/, /ɡɹiz/
Rhymes: -iːs (UK, US)
Rhymes: -iːz (US)

Noun

grease (countable and uncountable, plural greases)

Animal fat in a melted or soft state.
(by extension) Any oily or fatty matter.
Shorn but not yet cleansed wool.
Inflammation of a horse's heels, also known as scratches or pastern dermatitis.
(slang) bribe money.
- 1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type
  Some of the people I talked to said it could be done—but it would cost big money. More grease than I’d ever dreamed of.

Synonyms

(animal fat): fat, lard

Derived terms

Terms derived from grease (noun)

dirty grease
elbow grease
greaseball
grease-box
grease bush
grease gun / grease-gun
grease-monkey
grease moth
grease nipple
greasepaint / grease-paint
grease payment
greaseproof
greasewood
greasiness
greasy
the squeaky wheel gets the grease

Translations

animal fat

Albanian: yndyrë (sq) f
Arabic: شَحْم‎ m (šaḥm)
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Basque: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: тлушч m (tlušč), жыр m (žyr)
Bulgarian: мас (bg) f (mas), мазнина (bg) f (maznina)
Catalan: greix (ca)
Cherokee: ᎪᎢ (goi)
Cheyenne: amėške
Chinese:
Mandarin: 油脂 (zh) (yóuzhī), 脂肪 (zh) (zhīfáng)
Czech: tuk (cs) m
Dutch: vet (nl) n, smeer (nl) n
Esperanto: graso (eo)
Estonian: rasv (et)
Finnish: eläinrasva (fi)
French: graisse (fr) f
Galician: graxa (gl) f, enxunlla f, sebo m, lardo (gl) m, morca f, saín (gl)
Georgian: ქონი (koni)
German: Fett (de) n
Greek: please add this translation if you can
Hausa: mai
Hebrew: שֶׁמֶן‎ (he) m (shémen)
Hindi: चरबी (hi) f (carbī)
Hungarian: zsír (hu)
Ido: graso (io)
Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
Italian: grasso (it) m
Japanese: 脂肪 (ja) (しぼう, shibō)
Khmer: ខ្លាញ់ (km) (klaɲ)
Korean: 기름 (ko) (gireum), 유지 (ko) (yuji), 지방 (ko) (jibang)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: don (ku)
Latin: arvīna f, unguen n, pingue n
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: маст f (mast), сало n (salo)
Malay: minyak (ms), gris, lemak (ms)
Maltese: please add this translation if you can
Mongolian: өөх (mn) (ööx)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: smørefett n (lubricant), fett (no) n
Ojibwe: bimide
Old Turkic: 𐰖𐰍‎ (yaɣ)
Oriya: please add this translation if you can
Ottoman Turkish: یاغ‎ (yağ)
Polish: tłuszcz (pl) m
Portuguese: gordura (pt) f, graxa (pt) f
Romagnol: please add this translation if you can
Romanian: grăsime (ro) f
Russian: са́ло (ru) n (sálo), жир (ru) m (žir), ма́сло (ru) n (máslo), сма́лец (ru) m (smálec)
Scottish Gaelic: saill f
Slovak: tuk m
Spanish: grasa (es) f
Swahili: grisi (sw)
Swedish: fett (sv) n, flott (sv) n, ister (sv) n
Tagalog: grasa
Tamil: கொழுப்பு (ta) (koḻuppu)
Telugu: కందెన (te) (kandena)
Thai: มัน (th) (man)
Tocharian B: ṣmare
Tok Pisin: gris (tpi)
Turkish: yağ (tr)
Ukrainian: жир m (žyr), са́ло (uk) n (sálo), лій (uk) m (lij)
Urdu: چربی‎ f (carbī)
Vietnamese: mỡ (vi)
Welsh: saim m
Yiddish: בוימל‎ m (boyml), שמאַלץ‎ n or f (shmalts)
Zulu: amafutha

oily or fatty matter

Apache:
Western Apache: biʼikʼah
Arabic: شَحْم‎ m (šaḥm)
Belarusian: зма́зка n (zmázka)
Bole: giris
Bulgarian: ма́сло (bg) n (máslo), сма́зка (bg) f (smázka)
Cherokee: ᎪᎢ (goi)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 潤滑油／润滑油 (zh) (rùnhuáyóu), 潤滑脂／润滑脂 (zh) (rùnhuázhī)
Dutch: vet (nl) n, olie (nl)
Estonian: rasv (et)
Finnish: rasva (fi), öljy (fi)
French: graisse (fr) f
Galician: graxa (gl) f
German: Schmierfett n, Schmiere (de) f
Hausa: giris (ha), mai
Hebrew: שמן‎ (he) m (shuman), שמן‎ (he) m (shemen), דלק‎ (he) m (delek)
Hindi: ग्रीस (hi) f (grīs), ग्रीज (hi) f (grīj), ग्रीज़ f (grīz)
Indonesian: jelantah (id)
Irish: bealadh m
Japanese: グリース (gurīsu) (lubricant), 潤滑油 (じゅんかつゆ, junkatsuyu)
Korean: 윤활유 (yunhwaryu)
Macedonian: маснотија f (masnotija)
Malay: minyak (ms)
Ottoman Turkish: یاغ‎ (yağ)
Persian: گریس‎ (fa) (geris)
Polish: smar (pl) m
Portuguese: graxa (pt) f
Russian: сма́зка (ru) f (smázka) (lubricant), мазь (ru) f (mazʹ) (ointment)
Spanish: grasa (es) f
Swahili: grisi (sw)
Tagalog: grasa
Thai: จาระบี (th) (jaa-rá-bii)
Tok Pisin: gris (tpi)
Ukrainian: масти́ло n (mastýlo), мази́ло n (mazýlo), мазь f (mazʹ)
Yiddish: שמאַלץ‎ n or f (shmalts)

shorn but not yet cleansed wool

Bulgarian: непрана вълна f (neprana vǎlna)
Finnish: raakavilla

inflammation of a horse's heels

Finnish: kurarupi

Verb

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

(transitive) To put grease or fat on something, especially in order to lubricate.
(transitive, informal) To bribe.
- 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis; John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Third Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], OCLC 80026745:
  the greas'd 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.
(transitive, informal) To cause to go easily; to facilitate.
(transitive, slang, aviation) To perform a landing extraordinarily smoothly.
To my amazement, I greased the landing despite the tricky crosswinds.
(transitive, slang) To kill, murder.
(obsolete) To cheat or cozen; to overreach.
- 1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Mad Lover”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, OCLC 3083972, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
  You have greased him / For chewing love again in haste
To affect (a horse) with grease, the disease.

Synonyms

(put grease or fat on): lard
(slang for kill or murder): bump off, hit, whack

Derived terms

Terms derived from grease (verb)

greaser
grease the hand
grease the wheels
grease someone's palm

Translations

put grease or fat on something

Bulgarian: смазвам (bg) (smazvam)
Catalan: greixar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: namazat pf, promazat pf, potřít pf, vymastit pf
Dutch: smeren (nl), invetten (nl)
Finnish: rasvata (fi), öljytä (fi), voidella (fi)
French: ^{(please verify)} graisser (fr)
Friulian: onzi, ongi
Georgian: გაქონავს (gakonavs), გაზეთავს (gazetavs)
German: schmieren (de)
Greek: γρασάρω (el) (grasáro)
Hungarian: zsíroz (hu), olajoz (hu)
Irish: bealaigh
Latin: lūbricō
Macedonian: замастува (zamastuva), намастува (namastuva), подмачкува (podmačkuva)
Mongolian: тослох (mn) (toslox)
Portuguese: engraxar (pt), untar (pt)
Romanian: unge (ro)
Spanish: engrasar (es)
Swedish: smörja (sv)
Tagalog: grasahan
Tok Pisin: grisim
Yiddish: שמירן‎ (shmirn)

to bribe

Azerbaijani: yağlamaq (az)
Bulgarian: подкупвам (bg) (podkupvam)
Dutch: smeren (nl), omkopen (nl)
Finnish: voidella (fi), lahjoa (fi)
French: graisser la patte (fr), corrompre (fr)
German: schmieren (de), bestechen (de)
Hungarian: megveszteget (hu), megken (hu)
Yiddish: שמירן‎ (shmirn)

to perform a landing extraordinarily smoothly

Finnish: laskeutua todella pehmeästi
French: lubrifier (fr)

to kill

Finnish: voidella (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Spanish: ^{(please verify)} engrasar (es), ^{(please verify)} lubricar (es)

Anagrams

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