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elbow-bender

American

[el-boh-ben-der] / ˈɛl boʊˌbɛn dər /

noun

Slang.

a person who drinks alcoholic beverages to excess; a heavy drinker.

Other Word Forms

elbow-bending

noun

Etymology

Origin of elbow-bender

First recorded in 1910–15; elbow ( def. ) + bender ( def. ), from the image of a person bending the elbow to pick up an alcoholic drink, usually in a bar

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

elbow-bender

From Kerrigan's Kozy Korner to the Stork Club, barrooms have suffered from an influx of "kids and marginal drinkers," which one Manhattan elbow-bender has scornfully dubbed "The Television Set."

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023