Question

Select the meaning of the given phrase/idiom
To grease the palm
(a) to make hands greasy
(b) to get ready to do something
(c) to bribe
(d) to make payment

Answer 1

Hint: As a hint, look at this sentence which uses: “To grease the palm”: Harish greased the police officer’s hand to get away with the crime he committed.

Complete answer:
 The given phrase is an idiom. The meaning of an idiom is never its literal meaning and is to be deduced from the words used to form it.
(a) to make the palms greasy- Idioms don’t carry the literal meaning of their words. Option a is the literal meaning of the given idiom which is why it should be ruled out as the correct answer.
(b) to get ready to do something- Using this in the sentence in the hint makes no sense. Getting ready to do something has nothing to do with getting away with a crime committed.
(c) to bribe- To bribe means to pay money illegally to someone to get something done. The sentence given as an example in the hint makes sense with this meaning. The police officer was bribed so that Harish would not be punished.
(d) to make a payment- To make payment is different from a bribe. We make payments for everything we buy and it is legal. A bribe is an illegal payment. Thus, it is incorrect.
The correct answer is option (c).

Note:
 Idioms are very rarely the literal meaning of the words used to form them. It is advised to read and learn idioms because it is sometimes not possible to deduce the meaning of idioms from their words.