Elbow Definition

ĕlbō

elbowed, elbowing, elbows

noun

elbows

The joint between the upper and lower arm; esp., the outer part of the angle made by a bent arm.

Webster's New World

The bony outer projection of this joint.

American Heritage Medicine

The joint corresponding to this in the forelimb of quadrupeds.

Webster's New World

The part of a sleeve covering the elbow.

Webster's New World

Anything bent like an elbow, as a fitting for joining plumbing pipes at a 45° or 90° angle.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
articulatio cubiti
cubital joint
cubitus
human elbow
elbow joint
employed
engaged
join
hobnob with
mingle with
working at
turn
ulna
bend
joint

verb

elbowed, elbowing, elbows

To make one's way by shoving or jostling.

Webster's New World

To shove or jostle with or as with elbows.

Webster's New World

To open up (a means of passage, for example) by or as if by use of the elbow.

Elbowed her way through the crowd.

American Heritage

To push (one's way) with the elbows or rudely.

Webster's New World

To form an angle.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

idiom

at (one's) elbow

Close at hand; nearby.

American Heritage

out at the elbows

Poorly dressed.
Lacking money.

American Heritage

at someone's elbow

very close to someone; easy to reach

Webster's New World

out at (the) elbows

shabby; poverty-stricken

Webster's New World

up to the elbows

deeply engaged (in work, etc.)

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Elbow

Noun

Singular:

elbow

Plural:

elbows

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Elbow

at (one's) elbow
out at the elbows
at someone's elbow
out at (the) elbows
up to the elbows

Origin of Elbow

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
Middle English elbowe from Old English elnboga el- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition