"smell of an oily rag" meaning in English

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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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          "name": "Australian English",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1896, Dayrell Davies, \"Sport with the Brigands of Macedonia,\" The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, Longmans, Green, and Co., no. XII (July to December 1896), v. III, pg. 65",
          "text": "We have found them in the remote corners of Asia Minor, sans souliers, sans culottes, often in rags, living on the smell of an oily rag or a raw onion, trying their best to preserve order where their own miserable officials have brought shame and disgrace upon their tarnished colours."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Ian Shaw, quoted in Richard Strauss, Up for Rego: A Social History of the Holden Kingswood, Pluto Press Australia, pg. 33",
          "text": "Full of bog, goes anywhere you want to go, don't pay for insurance, runs on the smell of an oily rag."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Stephen Alomes, When London Calls: The Expatriation of Australian Creative Artists, page 133:",
          "text": "... they did not prepare someone for the smell-of-an-oily-rag budgets and ratings-driven world of Australian commercial television.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Susan Napier, Accidental Mistress, page 59:",
          "text": "They're prone to giving away their rations and living off the smell of an oily rag.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009 May 1, Nick Bryant, “'Selling' Queensland with a dream job”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "\"We did it on the smell of an oily rag\", says Danielle Kootman of Tourism Queensland.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Gai Waterhouse, Gai In My Words, page 146:",
          "text": "They had the smell of an oily rag to work on.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, John Clarke, A Dagg at My Table: Selected Writings, page 88:",
          "text": "There remains ABC Radio, which is the best known example of the relationship between the smell of an oily rag and the will to keep going.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money)."
      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, Australia, New Zealand) A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money)."
      ],
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        "Australia",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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      "examples": [
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          "ref": "1896, Dayrell Davies, \"Sport with the Brigands of Macedonia,\" The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes, Longmans, Green, and Co., no. XII (July to December 1896), v. III, pg. 65",
          "text": "We have found them in the remote corners of Asia Minor, sans souliers, sans culottes, often in rags, living on the smell of an oily rag or a raw onion, trying their best to preserve order where their own miserable officials have brought shame and disgrace upon their tarnished colours."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Ian Shaw, quoted in Richard Strauss, Up for Rego: A Social History of the Holden Kingswood, Pluto Press Australia, pg. 33",
          "text": "Full of bog, goes anywhere you want to go, don't pay for insurance, runs on the smell of an oily rag."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1999, Stephen Alomes, When London Calls: The Expatriation of Australian Creative Artists, page 133:",
          "text": "... they did not prepare someone for the smell-of-an-oily-rag budgets and ratings-driven world of Australian commercial television.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Susan Napier, Accidental Mistress, page 59:",
          "text": "They're prone to giving away their rations and living off the smell of an oily rag.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009 May 1, Nick Bryant, “'Selling' Queensland with a dream job”, in BBC News:",
          "text": "\"We did it on the smell of an oily rag\", says Danielle Kootman of Tourism Queensland.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Gai Waterhouse, Gai In My Words, page 146:",
          "text": "They had the smell of an oily rag to work on.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, John Clarke, A Dagg at My Table: Selected Writings, page 88:",
          "text": "There remains ABC Radio, which is the best known example of the relationship between the smell of an oily rag and the will to keep going.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money)."
      ],
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          "absolute",
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        ],
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, Australia, New Zealand) A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "New-Zealand",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
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