# social lubricant

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A food, beverage, drug or activity that helps people feel more comfortable in social occasions.

## Etymology
By a metaphor in which facilitating human social interaction is portrayed as lubricating machinery (e.g., oiling the gears, greasing the wheels); in this regard, compare also lubrication payment.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/social-lubricant