well-oiled

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Every day the bodies of three or four migrant workers are handed back to their families at the airport, the final transaction in a well-oiled system -- overseen by the state -- that helps keep Nepal's economy afloat.

From Barron's

“Think about what he must be going through. He’s in a strange land with strange people. It is a terrible thing to be away from one’s home. Besides, judging by his snoring, he’s quite all right. Brains are like any well-oiled machine. If it overheats, it needs to cool off.”

From Literature

Its ensemble is still a well-oiled machine powered by the performers’ chemistry and clear affection for each other and their characters’ tangible vulnerability.

From Salon

He’d been longest with the master, and he worked like a well-oiled machine.

From Literature

When Mr. Robb converted Ptolemy’s 11-to-20 ratio to a 4-to-3 ratio derived from “the angle of the rising sun of the summer solstice in southern England,” the “strangely well-oiled doors of a new Old World opened up,” revealing the map of the pre-Roman isles.

From The Wall Street Journal