🗓️ Idiom: Being a Well-Oiled Machine (v)
💬 Meaning
- To work smoothly, efficiently, and without problems.
- A team or system that is well-organized and functions effectively.
🧠 Example Sentences
- After months of collaboration, the development team now works like a well-oiled machine.
- Our weekly planning meetings help the project run like a well-oiled machine.
- The marketing campaign was a success. Everyone played their part like a well-oiled machine.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase comes from machinery that operates smoothly when properly maintained and lubricated. In business, it refers to a group or process that runs efficiently and without issues.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Once the new tools were in place, the workflow started running like __________.
Answer
a well-oiled machine
2. Choose the correct meaning of “a well-oiled machine”:
A) A team that has frequent problems
B) A system that works smoothly and efficiently
C) A plan that hasn’t started yet
D) A task that no one wants to do
Answer
B) A system that works smoothly and efficiently
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“The whole project team worked together perfectly.” → Change the sentence using: a well-oiled machine
Answer
The whole project team worked like a well-oiled machine.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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