Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Elbow

El′bow, n. [AS. elboga, elnboga (akin to D. elleboga, OHG. elinbogo, G. ellbogen, ellenbogen, Icel. ölnbogi; prop.; arm-bend); eln ell (orig., forearm) + boga a bending. See 1st Ell, and 4th Bow.] 1. The joint or bend of the arm; the outer curve in the middle of the arm when bent.

Her arms to the elbows naked. R. of Gloucester.

2. 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.

3. (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. Gwilt.

☞ Elbow is used adjectively or as part of a compound, to denote something shaped like, or acting like, an elbow; as, elbow joint; elbow tongs or elbow-tongs; elbowroom, elbow-room, or elbow room.

At the elbow, very near; at hand. — Elbow grease, energetic application of force in manual labor. [Low] — Elbow in the hawse (Naut.), the twisting together of two cables by which a vessel rides at anchor, caused by swinging completely round once. Totten. — Elbow scissors (Surg.), scissors bent in the blade or shank for convenience in cutting. Knight. — Out at elbow, with coat worn through at the elbows; shabby; in needy circumstances.

El′bow, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Elbowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Elbowing.] To push or hit with the elbow, as when one pushes by another.

They [the Dutch] would elbow our own aldermen off the Royal Exchange. Macaulay.

To elbow one's way, to force one's way by pushing with the elbows; as, to elbow one's way through a crowd.

El′bow, v. i. 1. To jut into an angle; to project or to bend after the manner of an elbow.

2. To push rudely along; to elbow one's way. "Purseproud, elbowing Insolence." Grainger.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.