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lubricate

UK/ˈluːbrɪkeɪt/US/ˈluːbrɪkeɪt/
verbB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,289 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: lubricating, lubricated, lubricates

To lubricate is to oil moving parts so they do not wear. Lubricate the chain, well lubricated, lubricate the bearings.

The oil keeps a film between the surfaces so metal never touches metal, and it is the film failing rather than the heat that destroys an engine. Over-lubricating a bicycle chain collects grit and wears it faster than a dry one.

Audriusa · Public domain

Definitions of lubricate

  1. 1verblubricateTo oil moving parts so they do not wear.B2+

    “Lubricate the hinges with a few drops of oil to stop the door squeaking.”

lubricate is an oiling.

Where it comes from

Latin lubricare means to make slippery, from lubricus, slippery.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *slewbʰ- — slip, slide

  2. Latin

    lūbricātus

  3. English, today

    lubricate

Built from

  • lūbricō · Latin — make slippery
  • lūbricus · Latin — slippery

Borrowed from Latin lūbricātus, perfect passive participle of lūbricō (“make slippery”) (see -ate for more), from lūbricus (“slippery”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Repair & Damage

Practise this word

lubricate in the wild

  • Water from moulins may help lubricate the base of the glacier, affecting glacial motion.

    Moulin (geomorphology)

  • Oil is used to seal, lubricate, and cool the pump, but its level and condition must be monitored, and it may be discharged as mist from the exhaust.

    Rotary vane pump

  • The muscles surrounding the appendix compress it until mucus is secreted to lubricate the vocal folds.

    Laryngeal ventricle

  • When dry ice frost changes to a gas, it may lubricate dry material to flow, especially on steep slopes.

    Arandas (crater)

  • An oil can (oilcan or oiler) is a can that holds oil (usually motor oil) for lubricating machines.

    Oil can

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the lūbricō family

lubricantlubricate

lubricate — used about once every 20,553 pages · #13,289 · point at the bar for the others