elbow room

noun

1

a

: room for moving the elbows freely

b

: adequate space for work or operation

a lab with plenty of elbow room

2

: free scope

elbow room to try new ideas

Synonyms

• place
• room
• space
• way

Examples of elbow room in a Sentence

It's a small kitchen with very little elbow room.

help me move the furniture so that we'll have enough elbow room to do some aerobics

Recent Examples on the Web

In the second component, prep and storage areas for food and accessories (all included) will give budding sous chefs plenty of elbow room. —Pamela Brill, Parents, 24 Oct. 2024

Pre-renovation, the flagship was more sectional, with less elbow room. —David Moin, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019

First is, wear your normal business clothes, as François-Henri Pinault, above, given plenty of elbow room between Gwyneth Paltrow and Lenny Kravitz, dependably does. —Guy Martin, Forbes, 26 Sep. 2024

Though larger overall than is typical for a luxury ship, Silver Nova is spacious and uncrowded, offering more elbow room per passenger than almost any other cruise vessel. —David Swanson, Travel + Leisure, 27 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

elbowroom

noun

el·​bow·​room

ˈel-ˌbō-ˌrüm,

-ˌru̇m

1

: room for moving the elbows freely

2

: enough space for work or operation