C1idiominformaleverydayIELTS-friendly
elbow grease
USUK
hard physical effort, especially when cleaning or polishing something
Usually 'a bit of elbow grease' or 'some elbow grease'. Uncountable.
In context
There's no magic product for that pan; it just needs a bit of elbow grease.
With some paint and elbow grease, we turned the old shop into a café.
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