▪ I. lubricate, a. rare—1.
(ˈl(j)uːbrɪkət)
[ad. L. lūbricāt-us, pa. pple. of lūbricāre: see next and -ate2.]
Slippery; smooth and oily.
| 1848 Lytton Harold iv. vii, A fat priest with a lubricate and shining nose. 1882 Ogilvie, Lubricate, slippery. (Rare.) |
▪ II. lubricate, v.
(ˈl(j)uːbrɪkeɪt)
[f. L. lūbricāt-, ppl. stem of lūbricāre, f. lūbric-us lubric.]
1. a. trans. To make slippery or smooth; to render smooth the motion or action of (something) by applying a fluid or unguent.
| 1623 Cockeram, Lubricate, to make slipper. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 425 Relaxing and lubricating the passages and quieting the Spasms by Opiates. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 574 A fluid which serves to lubricate the canal for the passage of the fæces. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 307/1 There are two glands which secrete a fluid to lubricate the ball of the eye. 1862 Tyndall Mountaineer. vi. 43 The liquid appeared to lubricate every atom of my body. 1866 Tate Brit. Mollusks iv. 68 All molluscous animals secrete a mucous fluid to lubricate the skin. |
b. To apply oil or some other substance to (a machine) in order to minimize the friction and make it run easily.
| 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 2186 Man's..balmy bath, That supples, lubricates, and keeps in play, The various movements of this nice machine. 1789 E. Darwin Bot Gard. i. (1791) Notes 21 He used oil or grease to..lubricate the cylinder. 1863 Tyndall Heat i. §9 (1870) 8 We are careful to lubricate the axles of our railway carriages. |
c. gen. To oil or grease.
| 1791 Cowper Odyss. xvii. 105 Wash'd and lubricated with fresh oils. 1866 Livingstone Last Jrnls. (1873) I. xii. 315 Dark brown fat which they use to ‘lubricate’ their hair. |
d. Photogr. To cover (a print) with a glazing agent as a preliminary to burnishing.
| 1892 Woodbury Encycl. Photogr. s.v. Burnisher, The face of the mounted print is lubricated with soap. |
2. transf. and fig. a. In general use.
| 1784 Cowper Task iv. 65 Here rills of oily eloquence in soft Meanders lubricate the course they take. 1833 Coleridge Table-t. 6 July, Fine music..has a sensible effect in..animating and as it were, lubricating my inventive faculty. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits xvii. Wks. (Bohn) II. 130 There seemed a pool of honey about his heart, which lubricated all his speech and action with fine jets of mead. |
b. slang. To ply with drink; also intr. to drink (Farmer Slang 1896).
| 1900 Daily Express 26 June 7/3 His late employers..had..dismissed him for..‘lubricating the police’. |
c. To grease the palm of; to bribe.
| 1928 Daily Express 12 July 1/1 He made specific charges. One was that taxicab proprietors have to ‘lubricate’ Scotland-yard before their taxicabs are passed for licensing. |
3. absol. or intr. To act as a lubricant.
| 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. II. 11/1 Between the Axis and the Circle in which it turns, there shou'd be some⁓what to lubricate. 1739 S. Sharp Operat. Surg. 77 The Patient is..relieved by..the Mucilaginous, the Saponaceous, &c. [remedies], some of which lubricate, and others both lubricate and stimulate. |