elbow
UK /ˈɛlbəʊ̯/ · US /ˈɛlboʊ̯/ noun, verb
Forms elbows elbowing elbowed
- noun (anatomy) The joint between the upper arm and the forearm.
- noun (by extension) 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. “the sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back”
- noun (US, dated, early 20th-century slang) A detective.
- noun (basketball) Part of a basketball court located at the intersection of the free-throw line and the free-throw lane.
- noun A hit, strike, or blow with the elbow.
- noun (knots) Two nearby crossings of a rope.
- verb (transitive) To push with the elbow or elbows; to forge ahead using the elbows to assist. “He elbowed his way through the crowd.”
- verb To strike with the elbow.
- verb To nudge, jostle or push.
- verb (informal, with "out" or "aside") To force (someone) to quit or lose their job so that someone else can be hired. “The president was elbowed out of power by members of her own party.”
Synonyms
elbow joint human elbow cubitus cubital joint articulatio cubiti
Etymology
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 Bokmål albue (“elbow”), Norwegian Nynorsk olboge (“elbow”), Faroese albogi, Icelandic olbogi, olnbogi (“elbow”), Swedish armbåge (“elbow”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The joint or bend of the arm; the outer curve in the middle of the arm when bent.
- noun Any turn or bend like that of the elbow, in a wall, building, and the like; a sudden turn in a line of coast or course of a river; also, an angular or jointed part of any structure, as the raised arm of a chair or sofa, or a short pipe fitting, turning at an angle or bent.
- verb To push or hit with the elbow, as when one pushes by another.
- verb To jut into an angle; to project or to bend after the manner of an elbow.
Etymology [AS. elboga, elnboga (akin to D. elleboga, OHG. elinbogo, G. ellbogen, ellenbogen, Icel. ; prop.; arm-bend); eln ell (orig., forearm) + boga a bending. See 1st Ell, and 4th Bow.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “elbow”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details