rub elbows with (someone)

rub elbows with (someone)

To interact or mingle with a person or group. I don't want to go to the gala tonight, but my wife is eager to rub elbows with the upper class.

See also: elbow, rub

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

rub elbows with

Also, rub shoulders with. Mix or socialize with, as in There's nothing like rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, or At the reception diplomats were rubbing shoulders with heads of state. Both of these terms allude to being in close contact with someone. [Mid-1800s]

See also: elbow, rub

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.

rub elbows with someone

AMERICAN

If you rub elbows with someone important or famous, you spend time with them. He rubbed elbows with his movie star clients and appeared on numerous TV talk shows. In the 10 years prior to that job, he rubbed elbows with dozens of political super-celebrities. Note: The usual British expression is rub shoulders with someone.

See also: elbow, rub, someone

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012