Akimbo Definition

ə-kĭmbō

adverb

In or into a position in which the hands are on the hips and the elbows are bowed outward.

Children standing akimbo by the fence.

American Heritage

With hands on hips and elbows bent outward.

With arms akimbo.

Webster's New World

Into, in, or of the position where the arms are akimbo.

The man was standing akimbo.

Wiktionary

adjective

Placed in such a way as to have the hands on the hips and the elbows bowed outward.

Children standing with arms akimbo.

American Heritage

Being in a bent, bowed, or arched position.

American Heritage

With a crook or bend; with the hand on the hip and elbow turned outward.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Origin of Akimbo

Middle English in kenebowe (perhaps originally “in jug-handles, bent like the handles of a jug” ) in in in¹ kenebowe (kene-) (perhaps from or akin to Old French chane, kane, quenne jug, of Germanic origin) (Middle English canne jar, pot can²) (bowe bow, bend bow³)

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Middle English in kenebowe, in kene bowe (“in a keen bow", i.e. "in a sharp bend or angle”), from in (“in”) + keen, kene (“brave, keen, sharp”) + bowe (“bow, bend”). Alternately, possibly from Old Norse keng (“bent”) + bogi (“a bow”), compare Icelandic kengboginn (“bow-bent”).

From Wiktionary

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