Idiom
smell of an oily rag
Meaning
A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He bought that old car for the smell of an oily rag.”
“The business was struggling, so they sold the equipment for the smell of an oily rag just to pay the rent.”
“Despite the property's prime location, the desperate owner accepted the smell of an oily rag to finalize the sale before the bank foreclosed.”
Examples
simple
“He bought that old car for the smell of an oily rag.”
contextual
“The business was struggling, so they sold the equipment for the smell of an oily rag just to pay the rent.”
complex
“Despite the property's prime location, the desperate owner accepted the smell of an oily rag to finalize the sale before the bank foreclosed.”
Key words
Related idioms
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