Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to grease one's palms

to grease one's palms

1 8.5
To give someone money secretly to make them do something for you
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : sobornar
  • To get the building permit approved quickly, the developer decided to grease his palms with the local officials.
  • grease a few palms

Examples

  • I advised him to grease the palms of the first person in line in order to trade for the deluxe edition.

    Blog text (17)

  • Upon his arrival in Canada, the newcomer, having spent as much as $300 to grease the palms of various intermediaries, usually went directly to Toronto or some other city.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Someone so hip to the hypocrisy of the government shouldn't need schooling on the media; what you're getting, not getting, who owns who, and who greases palms.

    Blog text (21)

  • No politician makes it to the national political stage without having greased some palms, engaged in quid pro quo, and buried some skeletons, so let's stop playing this gotcha game.

    Blog text (17)

  • In order to secure the contract, the vendor had to grease a few palms at city hall.

  • Sometimes, getting things done requires you to grease some palms behind the scenes.

Synonyms

to buy
vsto grease one's palms
507 8.9

To pay someone illegally to influence their actions

stresses under-the-table payment to sway people in power rather than lawful buying
to bribe
vsto grease one's palms
140 4.1

Give money or gifts to a person in authority to make them do something dishonest

highlights secret payment to persuade an official rather than general wrongdoing
to grease someone's palm
vsto grease one's palms
  • Informal
8.1

To give someone money secretly to make them do something for you

has identical meaning but uses a different pronoun form
to cross one's palm with silver
vsto grease one's palms
  • Archaic
9.3

To give someone money to get a favor, often as a bribe

refers to covert corrupt payment to persuade officials rather than ordinary service fees

How Illegal

to grease one's palms
  • Informal
1 8.5
tip
185 1.0
to give away
233 2.0

Surface Forms

grease one's palms infinitive
greased one's palms past
greased one's palms past participle
greasing one's palms present participle
greases one's palms third person singular

Morphology

grease + one + palm

Although the constituents 'grease' and 'palm' suggest a metaphor of making a hand slippery or giving something into a hand, the conventionalized meaning 'to bribe' is metaphorical and carries illicit/secretive nuances that are not fully predictable from the parts. A B1 learner who knows the words might guess it involves giving money to someone's hand, but they would likely need exposure to recognize the fixed sense of bribery, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Grease one's palms may come from the image of putting grease on someone's palms so money can easily slide into their hands. So it means 'to bribe' or 'to give someone money secretly to get a favour'.