grease

«grease» in Mova's school dictionary: a thick, oily substance used to make machine parts move… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (grease — uncountable); verb (grease, greases, greased, greasing)

meaning for a pupil

1) Grease is a thick, oily substance used to make machine parts move smoothly. tree →

2) Grease is soft animal fat, especially after cooking, like bacon grease. tree →

3) Grease is oil on skin or hair. tree →

4) (verb) To grease something is to put fat, butter or oil on it, like greasing a cake tin. tree →

5) (slang) «Grease someone's palm» means to bribe them. tree →

sense in the lessons

In cooking lessons pupils grease a baking tin so the cake does not stick; in science, grease reduces friction. In everyday life, grease stains clothes and needs soap to clean. Phrases: elbow grease (hard work), grease a tin, grease the wheels.

examples

• Grease the tin with butter before you pour in the mix. tree →
• The bike chain needs some grease. tree →
• The pan was covered in bacon grease. tree →
• It took a lot of elbow grease to clean the oven. tree →
• Grease reduces friction between the moving parts. tree →
• His hands were black with grease after fixing the car. tree →
• Soap helps wash grease off plates. tree →
• Put some bear’s grease on your beard and that will soon make it grow again.’ tree →

note

Uncountable noun: some grease, not «a grease». Adjective: greasy. Say: noun «greess»; verb «greess» or «greez». «Elbow grease» is an idiom for hard scrubbing work. Safety: never pour hot grease down the sink; do not put water on a grease fire.

In the corpora

• Some farmers smear fences with chilli and grease or burn chilli bricks, because chilli stings elephants' sensitive trunks.
• Grease does not dissolve in water; soap links grease and water so it can be rinsed away, and warm water helps.
• After pizza your fingers are greasy, and rinsing under the tap does almost nothing: water and grease do not mix.
• Add soap and the grease slides away.
• They are strong on purpose, so that they can break down dirt, grease and germs.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «grease» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.