I. ˈgrēs noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English grese, grees, from Old French craisse, graisse, cresse, gresse, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin crassia, from Latin crassus fat + -ia -y — more at hurdle
1.
a. : rendered animal fat especially when softer than tallow, inedible, and obtained from waste products
b. : fatty tissue : fatness
put some grease on those thin bones of yours — S.H.Adams
c. : oily matter or a thick oily or buttery preparation especially when not fine or pure
d. : a thick lubricant (as a petroleum oil thickened with a metallic soap)
axle grease
silicone greases
2.
a. : grease heel
b. : cutaneous horsepox of the pasterns
3. or grease wool : wool as it comes from the sheep retaining the natural oils or fats
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- in grease
II. -ēs, -ēz — for -s/-z regional differences see greasy verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English gresen, from grese, grees, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to smear or daub with grease
grease a cake pan
b. : to lubricate with grease
c. : to soil with grease
2. : to influence or persuade by gifts or bribes
long-striking soft-coal miners would return to the pits in a two-week truce, greased by retroactive pay — Newsweek
3. : to smooth or make easy of passage
bribes greased their path
: facilitate , expedite
this greases the decline in department store sales — Wall Street Journal
4. slang : to land (a plane) smoothly
greased the plane down the rain-slick runway — B.M.Bowie
intransitive verb
slang : to make a smooth landing with a plane
he greased in on the first hundred feet of runway — Hugh Fosburgh
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- grease the hand
- grease the wheels