at (one's) elbow

(redirected from at his elbow)

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at (one's) elbow

Close by; readily available. Please stay at your mother's elbow, in case she needs your help. I'm not very creative in the kitchen, so I always have a cookbook at my elbow when I prepare a new dish.

See also: elbow

at someone's elbow

Immediately beside someone, close by, as in The apprentice was constantly at the master's elbow. Why this idiom focuses on the elbow rather than the arm, shoulder, or some other body part is not known. Moreover, it can mean either that someone is so nearby as to constitute a nuisance or in order to readily provide assistance. Either can be meant in the example above. [Mid-1500s]

See also: elbow

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.

at your ˈelbow

very near; within arm’s reach: I always like to have a dictionary at my elbow to check spellings.

See also: elbow

at (one's) elbow

Close at hand; nearby.

See also: elbow

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.