Akimbo

//əˈkɪm.bəʊ// adj, adv, verb, slang

adj, adv, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To wield (two weapons), one in each hand. slang, transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    With a crook or bend; with the hand on the hip and elbow turned outward. not-comparable

    ""Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now.""

  2. 2
    With legs spread and the knees bent in an outward or awkward way, sometimes with the feet touching. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    (used of arms and legs) bent outward with the joint away from the body wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    Into, in, or of the position where the arms are akimbo. not-comparable

    "The man was standing akimbo."

  2. 2
    Of weapons, especially firearms: one held in each hand. not-comparable

    "Although it was a little impractical, Elmer held his revolvers akimbo because to him it looked cool."

Adverb
  1. 1
    with hands on hips and elbows extending outward wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
crookedangularbentcorneredcrotchedforked

Example

More examples

"She stood defiantly with arms akimbo."

Etymology

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 kengr (“bent”) + bogi (“a bow”), compare Icelandic kengboginn (“bow-bent”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.