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PlainSpell

elbow

el·bow/ˈɛlboʊ̯/noun, verb

elbow is spelled E-L-B-O-W: 5 letters and 2 syllables (el·bow). It appears 6.9 times per million words in written English, the 9,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, elbow means “The joint between the upper arm and the forearm” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of elbow is elbows.

How many letters and syllables are in elbow?

Letters5: E-L-B-O-W
Syllables2: el·bow
In writing6.9 times per million words; the 9,045th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is elbow?

Elbow appears 6.9 times per million words in written English, the 9,045th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce elbow?

  • UK /ˈɛlbəʊ̯/
  • [ˈæ̝wbɐw]
  • US /ˈɛlboʊ̯/

Elbow has 2 syllables, split el·bow in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-elbow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with elbow?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as elbow (/ɛlboʊ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: below, bowel.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of elbow

  • elbows plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • elbowing participle, present
  • elbowed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does elbow mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The joint between the upper arm and the forearm.

  2. 2

    Any turn or bend like that of the elbow, in a wall, building, coastline, etc.; an angular or jointed part of any structure, such as the raised arm of a chair or sofa, or a short pipe fitting, turning at an angle or bent.

    the sides of windows, where the jamb makes an elbow with the window back

  3. 3

    USdatedA detective.

  4. 4

    Part of a basketball court located at the intersection of the free-throw line and the free-throw lane.

  5. 5

    A hit, strike, or blow with the elbow.

  6. 6

    Two nearby crossings of a rope.

verb

  1. 1

    To push with the elbow or elbows; to forge ahead using the elbows to assist.

    He elbowed his way through the crowd.

  2. 2

    To strike with the elbow.

  3. 3

    To nudge, jostle or push.

  4. 4

    informalTo force (someone) to quit or lose their job so that someone else can be hired.

    The president was elbowed out of power by members of her own party.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Elbow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcoude (joint between upper arm and forearm), coup de coude (a hit with the elbow), jouer des coudes (to push with the elbow)
GermanEllbogen (joint between upper arm and forearm), Ellbogenstoß (a hit with the elbow), ellbögeln, but see mit dem Ellbogen stoßen (to push with the elbow), Rohrbogen (pipe fitting)
Portuguesecotovelo (joint between upper arm and forearm), cotovelada, cotovelão (a hit with the elbow), cotovelar, acotovelar (to push with the elbow)
Spanishcodo (joint between upper arm and forearm), codazo (a hit with the elbow)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does elbow come from?

From Middle English elbowe (“elbow”), from Old English elboga, elnboga (“elbow”), from Proto-Germanic *alinabugô (“elbow”), equivalent to ell + bow. Cognate with Scots elbuck (“elbow”), Saterland Frisian Älbooge (“elbow”), Dutch elleboog (“elbow”), Low German Ellebage (“elbow”), German Ellbogen, Ellenbogen (“elbow”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål albue (“elbow”), Norwegian Nynorsk olboge (“elbow”), Faroese albogi, Icelandic olbogi, olnbogi (“elbow”), Swedish armbåge (“elbow”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after elbow