some elbow room

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.

See also: elbow, room

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.

See also: elbow, room

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.