elbowroom

American  

[el-boh-room, -room] / ˈɛl boʊˌrum, -ˌrʊm /

noun

1. ample room; space in which to move freely.

2. scope; opportunity.

   a job with elbowroom.

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elbowroom British  

/ -ˌrʊm, ˈɛlbəʊˌruːm /

noun

1. sufficient scope to move or function

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Etymology

Origin of elbowroom

First recorded in 1530–40; elbow + room

Example Sentences

With all its new elbowroom, the company danced with new grace and exuberance.

From Time Magazine Archive

There's elbowroom below for routine maintenance, and vital fluids checks are easy thanks to Volvo's color-coding system.

From Time Magazine Archive

By war's end, father Jay was moving aside to give Harsen plenty of elbowroom, and Harsen's ideas were to expand.

From Time Magazine Archive

While winning elbowroom at the men's bar, she has lost her seat in the subway.

From Time Magazine Archive

Marshall's nationalism rescued American democracy from the vaguer horizons to which Jefferson's cosmopolitanism beckoned, and gave to it a secure abode with plenty of elbowroom.

From John Marshall and the Constitution; a chronicle of the Supreme court by Corwin, Edward Samuel

Related Words

• amount
• breadth
• degree
• duration
• expansion
• intensity
• length
• matter
• measure
• quantity
• scope
• size
• term