oil the wheels
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She’s given you this money to oil the wheels of your own ingenuity, and you’ve begun doing just that.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 11, 2025
Ministers from its 164 member nations will meet in Buenos Aires this weekend as the guardian of global commerce seeks to oil the wheels of international trade.
From BBC • Dec. 8, 2017
Even animal welfare is sensitive in a proposed accord where both sides would recognize each others standards to oil the wheels of commerce.
From Scientific American • Mar. 12, 2014
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This tougher law introduced an offence of failure to prevent bribery, and clamps down on "facilitation payments" and disproportionate hospitality to oil the wheels of business.
From Reuters • Dec. 6, 2012
I was born into a slow world, and I wished to oil the wheels and gear, so that the machine would spin faster and, withal, to better purposes.
From My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands Dictated in My Seventy-Fourth Year by Train, George Francis