Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The joint or bend of the arm between the forearm and the upper arm.
  • noun The bony outer projection of this joint.
  • noun A joint, as of a bird or quadruped, corresponding to the human elbow.
  • noun Something having a bend or angle similar to an elbow, especially.
  • noun A length of pipe with a sharp bend in it.
  • noun A sharp bend in a river or road.
  • intransitive verb To push, jostle, or shove with the elbow.
  • intransitive verb To open up (a means of passage, for example) by or as if by use of the elbow.
  • intransitive verb To make one's way by pushing with the elbow.
  • intransitive verb To turn at an angle; bend.
  • idiom (at (one's) elbow) Close at hand; nearby.
  • idiom (out at the elbows) Poorly dressed.
  • idiom (out at the elbows) Lacking money.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In carriages, the rail that, forms the upper part of the frame of the quarter.
  • To push or shove with or as if with the elbow; hence, figuratively, to push or thrust by overbearing means; crowd: as, to elbow people aside in a crowd; to elbow a rival out of the way.
  • To make or gain by pushing with the elbows: as, to elbow one's way through a crowd.
  • To jut into an angle; project; bend or curve abruptly, as a wall or a stream.
  • To jostle with or as if with the elbow; push one's way; hence, figuratively, to be rudely self-assertive or aggressive.
  • noun The bend of the arm; the angle made by bending the arm at the junction of the upper arm with the forearm.
  • noun In anatomy, the elbow-joint and associate structures. See elbow-joint.
  • noun Something curved or bent like the human elbow; specifically, a flexure or angle of a wall or road, especially if not acute; a sudden turn or bend in a river or the sea-coast; a jointed or curved piece of pipe for water, smoke, gas, etc., designed to connect two lines running at an angle to each other.
  • noun In carpentry, etc., one of the upright sides which flank any paneled work. See crosset.
  • noun The raised arm of a chair or end of a sofa, designed to support the arm or elbow.
  • noun A shoulder-point in cattle. Grose. —At one's elbow, near at hand; convenient; within call.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To push or hit with the elbow, as when one pushes by another.
  • transitive verb to force one's way by pushing with the elbows.
  • 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.
  • noun (Arch.) A sharp angle in any surface of wainscoting or other woodwork; the upright sides which flank any paneled work, as the sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back.
  • noun very near; at hand.
  • noun [Low] energetic application of force in manual labor.
  • noun (Naut.) the twisting together of two cables by which a vessel rides at anchor, caused by swinging completely round once.
  • noun (Surg.) scissors bent in the blade or shank for convenience in cutting.
  • noun with coat worn through at the elbows; shabby; in needy circumstances.
  • intransitive verb To jut into an angle; to project or to bend after the manner of an elbow.
  • intransitive verb To push rudely along; to elbow one's way.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The joint between the upper arm and the forearm.
  • noun A pipe fitting that turns a corner.
  • noun US, obsolete A detective.
  • verb To push with the elbow; to jostle or force.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sharp bend in a road or river
  • verb shove one's elbow into another person's ribs
  • verb push one's way with the elbows
  • noun hinge joint between the forearm and upper arm and the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped
  • noun a length of pipe with a sharp bend in it
  • noun the joint of a mammal or bird that corresponds to the human elbow
  • noun the part of a sleeve that covers the elbow joint

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English elbowe, from Old English elnboga; see el- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English elnboga, from Germanic, corresponding to ell + bow. Cognate with Dutch elleboog, German Ellbogen.

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Examples

Comments

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  • You're kissing your elbow

    You're kissing your reflection

    And you can't understand why all the other boys are going for the

    New, tall, elegant rich kids

    You can bet it is a bitch, kid

    But if they don't see the quality then it is apparent that

    You're going to have to change

    Or you're going to have to go with girls

    You might be better off

    At least they know where to put it.

    (Seeing other people, by Belle and Sebastian)

    October 29, 2008