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elbowroom

[el-boh-room, -roo m]
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noun
  1. ample room; space in which to move freely.
  2. scope; opportunity: a job with elbowroom.
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Origin of elbowroom

First recorded in 1530–40; elbow + room
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

latitudeclearancefreedomleewaylicensemarginplayroomspace
British Dictionary definitions for elbow room

elbowroom

noun
  1. sufficient scope to move or function
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with elbow room

elbow room

Enough space to move about, as in Two hundred on the stage? There won't be any elbow room. This term alludes to having enough room to extend one's elbows. [Late 1500s]

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.