elbow room
1. Enough space to move around an area easily. Ugh, the mall is so crowded today that there's hardly any elbow room at all! The zoo announced that the primates would be getting some extra elbow room following the new expansion to their enclosure. Ugh, there's never any elbow room on the subway during rush hour.
2. The freedom and ability to act as one wants. Well, you're her cabinet—if you're worried about her having too much elbow room as student council president, you should impose limitations. I always believe in letting my creative teams have as much elbow room as they need to see their visions become realities. This grant from the city council will give us some elbow room to expand the scope of the business the way we originally intended.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
*some elbow room
Fig. room to move about in; extra space to move about in. (*Typically: allow ~; get ~; have ~; give someone ~; need ~.) This table is too crowded. We all need some elbow room.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
elbow room
Enough space to move about, as in Two hundred on the stage? There won't be any elbow room. This term alludes to having enough room to extend one's elbows. [Late 1500s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
elbow room
1. If someone gives you elbow room, they give you the freedom to do what you want to do in a particular situation. He promised governors that he would give them more elbow room to encourage innovation. The decision has allowed us more electoral elbow room and political flexibility.
2. If you have enough elbow room, you have enough space to move freely or feel comfortable, without feeling crowded. There was not much elbow room in the cockpit. To have this much elbow room in London, you would need to be a billionaire.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
ˈelbow room
(informal)
1 enough space to move in: October is a good time to visit as there are fewer tourists and more elbow room in the restaurants.
2 the freedom to do something: Teachers often feel they have little elbow room to try new methods.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
elbow room
Enough space. This metaphor for having enough space to extend one’s elbows has been used since the sixteenth century. “Now my soul hath elbow-room,” wrote Shakespeare (King John, 5.7).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer