elbows

Noun

elbow (plural elbows)

1. The joint between the upper arm and the forearm.
   • Up to the elbowes naked were there Armes.1627, Michael Drayton, “The Moone-Calfe”, in English Poetry 1579-1830: Spenser and the Tradition, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2016

   Synonyms:

   elbow joint

2. (broadly) 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
3. (US, dated, early 20th-century slang) A detective.
   • "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.1924, Dashiell Hammett, Zigzags of Treachery
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.
   • 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[.]1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 200
6. (knots) Two nearby crossings of a rope.

See all 10 meanings of elbow