What is "elbow grease"

Elbow \El"bow\, n. [AS. elboga, elnboga (akin to D. elleboga, OHG. elinbogo, G. ellbogen, ellenbogen, Icel. ?lnbogi; prop.; arm-bend); eln ell (orig., forearm) + boga a bending. See 1st Ell, and 4th Bow.]

1. The joint or bend of the arm; the outer curve in the middle of the arm when bent.

   Her arms to the elbows naked.
   --R. of Gloucester.

2. Any turn or bend like that of the elbow, in a wall, building, and the like; a sudden turn in a line of coast or course of a river; also, an angular or jointed part of any structure, as the raised arm of a chair or sofa, or a short pipe fitting, turning at an angle or bent.

3. (Arch.) A sharp angle in any surface of wainscoting or other woodwork; the upright sides which flank any paneled work, as the sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back.
   --Gwilt.

   Note: Elbow is used adjectively or as part of a compound, to denote something shaped like, or acting like, an elbow; as, elbow joint; elbow tongs or elbow-tongs; elbowroom, elbow-room, or elbow room.

   At the elbow, very near; at hand.

   Elbow grease, energetic application of force in manual labor. [Low]

   Elbow in the hawse (Naut.), the twisting together of two cables by which a vessel rides at anchor, caused by swinging completely round once.
   --Totten.

   Elbow scissors (Surg.), scissors bent in the blade or shank for convenience in cutting.
   --Knight.

   Out at elbow, with coat worn through at the elbows; shabby; in needy circumstances.

n. (context idiomatic English) effort or hard work, especially physical work involving repeated motion of the forearm, such as scrubbing.

n. use of physical or mental energy; hard work; "he got an A for effort"; "they managed only with great exertion" [syn: effort, exertion, travail, sweat]

Elbow grease is an idiom for working hard at manual labour. It is a figure of speech for humorously indicating nothing else but manual work is required.

It is sometimes reported in the form of a snipe hunt, a prank where an apprentice or recruit is sent on an errand to retrieve "elbow grease" by his supervisor.

• The prank was used in the web series Red vs. Blue where two of the Red soldiers tell their new recruit to go fetch "elbow grease and headlight fluid" from the store. Their prank backfires when the recruit instead asks for the enemy's flag from the enemy's recruit, mistaking the other base for the store.
• GMC's advertisement for their heavy duty vans and trucks shows a few men failing to move a small boulder. Frustrated and defeated, at once a GMC van backs onto the scene with the surprise of the men upon discovering several large barrels of elbow grease in the rear of the van.