oil up

present singular third person oils up · participle present oiling up · participle past oiled up · past oiled up

1. transitiveTo lubricate with oil; to cover or smear with oil.

   They really oiled up that bike chain, didn't they?

   3 more examples

   They oiled it up with about five times more oil than was necessary.

   Tom oiled up his chain and set out with a dozen miles yet to go before he would reach a good road. He had not ridden more than a mile before he met a farmer's boy on a bicycle. The boy stopped and asked Tom where he was going.

   1923 May, Boy's Life

   Peteal oiled himself up again and was sent to practice with some of the other Pehlivan, who were in the deste division at the school. Though all of them were bigger than he was, he was only beaten twice.

   2010, E. P. Marcellin, Element Keepers: Whispers of the Wind, page 148

2. To get (someone) drunk.

   They really oiled him up last night, planning to get him to talk, but he'd been well warned about industrial espionage, and he kept his cool.

   Synonyms: lubricate, liquor up