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elbow

Pronunciation: /ˈɛlbəʊ̯/

The English word “elbow” has 10 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The joint between the upper arm and the forearm.
  2. 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.
  3. A detective.
  4. Part of a basketball court located at the intersection of the free-throw line and the free-throw lane.
  5. A hit, strike, or blow with the elbow.
  6. Two nearby crossings of a rope.

verb

  1. To push with the elbow or elbows; to forge ahead using the elbows to assist.
  2. To strike with the elbow.
  3. To nudge, jostle or push.
  4. To force (someone) to quit or lose their job so that someone else can be hired.

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”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.