Elbow definition
Elbowed me in the ribs to get me to stop laughing.
The lane elbows to the left.
An example of an elbow is the part of the arm that bends when swinging a tennis racket.
- A length of pipe with a sharp bend in it.
- A sharp bend in a river or road.
Elbowed her way through the crowd.
The sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back.
- Close at hand; nearby.
- Poorly dressed.
- Lacking money.
- very close to someone; easy to reach
- shabby; poverty-stricken
- deeply engaged (in work, etc.)
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of elbow
- Middle English elbowe from Old English elnboga el- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English elbowe, from Old English elboga, elnboga (“elbow”), from Proto-Germanic *alinabugô (“elbow”), equivalent to ell + bow. Cognate with Scots elbuck (“elbow”), Saterland Frisian Älbooge (“elbow”), Dutch elleboog (“elbow”), Low German Ellebage (“elbow”), German Ellbogen, Ellenbogen (“elbow”), Danish albue (“elbow”), Icelandic olbogi, olnbogi (“elbow”).
From Wiktionary