elbow
the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped.
to push with or as if with the elbow; jostle.
to make (one's way) by so pushing.
to elbow one's way: He elbowed through the crowd.
Idioms about elbow
at one's elbow, within easy reach; nearby: A virtue of the cottage is that the ocean is at your elbow.
bend / lift / crook an elbow, Informal. to drink alcoholic beverages.
give the elbow, shove aside, get rid of, or reject.
out at the elbows, : Also out at elbows.
poorly dressed; shabby.
impoverished.
rub elbows with, to mingle socially with; associate with: a resort where royalty rubs elbows with the merely rich.
up to one's elbows, very busy; engrossed: I am up to my elbows in answering mail.: Also up to the elbows.
Origin of elbow
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use elbow in a sentence
Somebody yanks Chan and elbows him and he is momentarily distracted trying to apprehend his assailant.
Establishment figures, Tea Partiers, evangelicals, and libertarians will all be rubbing elbows at a single theater.
Now for the complications and awkwardness, to say nothing of elbows and gossip and rivalries and all that other stuff.
Their knees and elbows have punctures from a 10mm drill bit.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq | Nathan Bradley Bethea | August 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThankfully I got my hands up in time so I broke the windshield with my elbows instead of my face.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on ‘Sin City’ and Why He Considers Himself a Male Feminist | Marlow Stern | August 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
When he bent his elbows the sleeves flew up his arms, and these wristers became the most conspicuous thing in his whole attire.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson LloydSquaring his elbows on the table, he begun abruptly; and appeared to have a habit of cutting short his words and sentences.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodMrs. Gum dusted a large old-fashioned oak chair with her apron; but he perched himself on one of its elbows.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodEvery movement rigidly prescribed, arms held rigid and sharply bent at the elbows.
The Man from Time | Frank Belknap Long"Of course," declared the other, leaning both elbows upon the table before him and looking straight into the novelist's pale face.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux
British Dictionary definitions for elbow
/ (ˈɛlbəʊ) /
the joint between the upper arm and the forearm, formed by the junction of the radius and ulna with the humerus
the corresponding joint or bone of birds or mammals
the part of a garment that covers the elbow
something resembling an elbow, such as a sharp bend in a road or river
at one's elbow within easy reach
out at elbow or out at elbows ragged or impoverished
up to the elbows with or up to the elbows in busily occupied with; deeply immersed in
(tr) to reject; dismiss. Also: give the elbow
to make (one's way) by shoving, jostling, etc
(tr) to knock or shove with or as if with the elbow
Origin of elbow
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with elbow
In addition to the idioms beginning with elbow
- elbow grease
- elbow room
also see:
- at someone's elbow
- crook one's elbow
- out at the elbows
- rub elbows with
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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