smell of an oily rag

Noun

 * 1)  A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money).
 * 2) * 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:
 * 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.
 * 1) * 1998, Ian Shaw, quoted in Richard Strauss, Up for Rego: A Social History of the Holden Kingswood, Pluto Press Australia, ISBN 9781864030549, pg. 33:
 * Full of bog, goes anywhere you want to go, don't pay for insurance, runs on the smell of an oily rag.

Usage notes

 * Frequently used in the phrase "run on the smell of an oily rag", with regard to a car's fuel efficiency.