Link Centre Dictionary

elbow

el·bow

UK/ˈɛlbəʊ̯/ US/ˈæ̝wbɐw/ fairly common informal us
noun (5) verb (2)

noun

1.
2.

a sharp bend in a road or river

3.

a length of pipe with a sharp bend in it

4.

the part of a sleeve that covers the elbow

  • “his coat had patches over the elbows”
5.

the joint of a mammal or bird that corresponds to the human elbow

verb

1.

push one''s way with the elbows

2.

shove one''s elbow into another person''s ribs

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • at one's elbow
  • at the elbow
  • bend one's elbow
  • bump elbows
  • collar and elbow
  • crook one's elbow
  • elbow and collar
  • elbow bender

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.