el1
- Informal. elevated railroad.
Origin of el1
el2
- ell1.
el3
- the letter l.
ell1
or el
- an extension usually at right angles to one end of a building.
- elbow(def 5).
- something that is L-shaped.
Origin of ell1
el.
Examples from the Web for el
Contemporary Examples
El Bulli, for instance, previously named the best restaurant in the world, shuttered its doors after only a few decades.
In 2010, La Rana Dorada followed in Istmo's footsteps and opened a brewpub in the neighborhood of El Congrejo.
So, Schmidt followed the gold rush to the El Paso mountains and claimed an area of mining land.
“We are happy, as happy as before,” she said, according to El País.
In the meantime, there is talk that with El Chapo in prison the Sinaloa cartel has a new leader.
Historical Examples
I described Bedr el Gemly as best I could, feature by feature.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
Boabdil el Chico had taken the field, at the head of a numerous army.
Leila, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Of El Dorado, or his real reason for leaving the Yukon, he said nothing.
Murder PointConingsby Dawson
He was the will of destiny decreeing that Spurling should not reach El Dorado alive.
Murder PointConingsby Dawson
The Kaid el habs was bringing a courier, who carried an order for Israel's release.
The ScapegoatHall Caine
el
- US informal a shortened form of elevated railway or railroadSee elevated railway
ell1
- an obsolete unit of length equal to approximately 45 inches
Word Origin
ell2
- an extension to a building, usually at right angles and located at one end
- a pipe fitting, pipe, or tube with a sharp right-angle bend
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for el
n.
American English abbreviation of elevated railroad, first recorded 1906 in O. Henry.
ell
n.2
type of building extension, 1773, American English; so called for resemblance to the shape of the alphabet letter.
ell
n.1
"unit of measure of 45 inches," Old English eln, originally "forearm, length of the arm" (as a measure, anywhere from a foot and a half to two feet), from PIE *el- (1) "elbow, forearm" (cf. Greek olene "elbow," Latin ulna, Armenian uln "shoulder," Sanskrit anih "part of the leg above the knee," Lithuanian alkune "elbow").
The exact distance varied, depending on whose arm was used as the base and whether it was measured from the shoulder to the fingertip or the wrist: the Scottish ell was 37.2 inches, the Flemish 27 inches. Latin ulna also was a unit of linear measure, and cf. cubit.
Whereas shee tooke an inche of liberty before, tooke an ell afterwardes [Humfrey Gifford, "A Posie of Gilloflowers," 1580].