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Elbow

//ˈɛlbəʊ// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The joint between the upper arm and the forearm.

    "Up to the elbowes naked were there Armes."

  2. 2
    the joint of a mammal or bird that corresponds to the human elbow wordnet
  3. 3
    Any turn or bend like that of the elbow, in a wall, building, coastline, etc.; an angular or jointed part of any structure, such as the raised arm of a chair or sofa, or a short pipe fitting, turning at an angle or bent. broadly

    "the sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back"

  4. 4
    the part of a sleeve that covers the elbow joint wordnet
  5. 5
    A detective. US, dated

    ""An elbow, huh?" putting all the contempt he could in his voice; and somehow any synonym for detective seems able to hold a lot of contempt."

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  1. 6
    a sharp bend in a road or river wordnet
  2. 7
    Part of a basketball court located at the intersection of the free-throw line and the free-throw lane.
  3. 8
    a length of pipe with a sharp bend in it wordnet
  4. 9
    A hit, strike, or blow with the elbow.

    "In the fair dinkum department that elbow prop Barrie McDermott threw into the face of Paul Sironen deserved to get him four months on the side-lines[.]"

  5. 10
    hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped wordnet
  6. 11
    Two nearby crossings of a rope.
Verb
  1. 1
    To push with the elbow or elbows; to forge ahead using the elbows to assist. transitive

    "He elbowed his way through the crowd."

  2. 2
    shove one's elbow into another person's ribs wordnet
  3. 3
    To strike with the elbow.

    "Trumper elbowed me in the ribs and made a sign with his head. He seemed irritated now by our delay."

  4. 4
    push one's way with the elbows wordnet
  5. 5
    To nudge, jostle or push.

    "Suddenly and with all her heart Kate longed to be home, back at the homestead, to participate in the rambunctious toss and jostle as breakup elbowed its way into the Park."

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  1. 6
    To force (someone) to quit or lose their job so that someone else can be hired. informal

    "The president was elbowed out of power by members of her own party."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English elbowe (“elbow”), 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 and Norwegian albue (“elbow”), Faroese albogi, Icelandic olbogi, olnbogi (“elbow”), Swedish armbåge (“elbow”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English elbowe (“elbow”), 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 and Norwegian albue (“elbow”), Faroese albogi, Icelandic olbogi, olnbogi (“elbow”), Swedish armbåge (“elbow”).

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