From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoil the wheelsoil the wheelsBritish EnglishHELP to help something to be done in business or politics successfully and easily → oil
Examples from the Corpus
oil the wheels• Normally Paul would have been circulating with the best of them, oiling the wheels.• Credit was the solvent that oiled the wheels of many other retailers' businesses.• Gossiping, after all, is an important trade that oils the wheels of other people's industry.• A certain level of corruption is tolerated as part of the grease that oils the wheels of the republic. 