elbowroom

[ el-boh-room, -room ]

/ ˈɛl boʊˌrum, -ˌrʊm /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for elbowroom on Thesaurus.com

noun

ample room; space in which to move freely.

scope; opportunity: a job with elbowroom.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE 12 TYPES OF VERB TENSES!

Loosen up your grammar muscles because it’s time to test your knowledge on verb tenses!

Question 1 of 6

The verb tenses can be split into which 3 primary categories?

action, linking, and helping

dynamic, static, and auxiliary

past, present, and future

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar Coach

Improve Your Writing

Origin of elbowroom

First recorded in 1530–40; elbow + room

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use elbowroom in a sentence

Toomey glides around the room like a Brazilian capoeira dancer.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
One day he and some of his roommates were cleaning their room and one of the guys threw the dustpan out into the hall.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Marvin and I leave the poolside and go into his dining room.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The resources were what you might expect: Dining room, a media center, a library, a TV room, a meeting room, a computer room.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Barry showed me his room—a one bedroom with a killer view of Riverbank State Park and the Hudson.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The big room at King's Warren Parsonage was already fairly well filled.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
In the drawing-room things went on much as they always do in country drawing-rooms in the hot weather.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Kind of a reception-room in there—guess I know a reception-room from a hole in the wall.
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
His lordship retired shortly to his study, Hetton and Mr. Haggard betook themselves to the billiard-room.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
When his lordship retired early, as was his custom, the other men adjourned once more to the billiard-room.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills

British Dictionary definitions for elbowroom

elbowroom

/ (ˈɛlbəʊˌruːm, -ˌrʊm) /

noun

sufficient scope to move or function

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 elbowroom

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]

elbowroom

noun

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE 12 TYPES OF VERB TENSES!

Meet Grammar Coach

Meet Grammar Coach

Origin of elbowroom

Words related to elbowroom

How to use elbowroom in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for elbowroom

noun

Idioms and Phrases with elbowroom