1 N‑COUNT Your elbow is the part of your arm where the upper and lower halves of the arm are joined. □ He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow.
2 VERB If you elbow people aside or elbow your way somewhere, you push people with your elbows in order to move somewhere. □ [V n with aside ] They also claim that the security team elbowed aside a steward. □ [V n prep] Mr Smith elbowed me in the face. □ [V n prep/adv] Brand elbowed his way to the centre of the group of bystanders. [Also V ]
3 VERB If someone or something elbows their way somewhere, or elbows other people or things out of the way , they achieve success by being aggressive and determined. □ [V n with aside/out ] Non-state firms gradually elbow aside the inefficient state-owned ones. □ [V n prep] Environmental concerns will elbow their way right to the top of the agenda. [Also V n prep, V n]
4 to rub elbows with → see rub
e l|bow grease N‑UNCOUNT People use elbow grease to refer to the strength and energy that you use when doing physical work like rubbing or polishing. [INFORMAL ] □ It took a considerable amount of polish and elbow grease before the brass shone like new.
e l|bow room
1 N‑UNCOUNT Elbow room is the freedom to do what you want to do or need to do in a particular situation. [INFORMAL ] □ His speech was designed to give himself more political elbow room.
2 N‑UNCOUNT If there is enough elbow room in a place or vehicle, it is not too small or too crowded. [INFORMAL ] □ There was not much elbow room in the cockpit of a Snipe.
el|der /e ldə r / (elders )
1 ADJ [ADJ n, the ADJ ] The elder of two people is the one who was born first. □ …his elder brother. □ [+ of ] …the elder of her two daughters.
2 N‑COUNT A person's elder is someone who is older than them, especially someone quite a lot older. [FORMAL ] □ The young have no respect for their elders.
3 N‑COUNT In some societies, an elder is one of the respected older people who have influence and authority. □ …tribal elders.
4 N‑VAR An elder is a bush or small tree which has groups of small white flowers and black berries.
elder|berry /e ldə r beri/ (elderberries )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Elderberries are the edible black berries that grow on an elder bush or tree.
2 N‑VAR An elderberry is an elder bush or tree.
el|der|ly ◆◇◇ /e ldə r li/ ADJ You use elderly as a polite way of saying that someone is old. [POLITENESS ] □ …an elderly couple. □ Many of those most affected are elderly. ● N‑PLURAL The elderly are people who are old. This use could cause offence. □ The elderly are a formidable force in any election. SYNONYMS elderly ADJ
old: He was considered too old for the job.
aged: She has an aged parent who's capable of being very difficult.
ageing: John lives with his ageing mother.
geriatric: The geriatric patients will be moved out.
e l|der sta tes|man (elder statesmen )
1 N‑COUNT An elder statesman is an old and respected politician or former politician who still has influence because of his or her experience.
2 N‑COUNT An experienced and respected member of an organization or profession is sometimes referred to as an elder statesman .
eld|est /e ld I st/ ADJ The eldest person in a group is the one who was born before all the others. □ The eldest child was a daughter called Fiona. □ [+of ] David was the eldest of three boys. □ The two eldest are already doing well at Kings Wood.
e -lea rning N‑UNCOUNT E-learning is learning that takes place by means of computers and the internet.
elect ◆◆◇ / I le kt/ (elects , electing , elected )
1 VERB When people elect someone, they choose that person to represent them, by voting for them. □ [V n] The people of the Philippines have voted to elect a new president. □ [V n n] Manchester College elected him Principal in 1956. □ [V n + as ] The country is about to take a radical departure by electing a woman as its new president. ● elect|ed ADJ [ADJ n] □ …the country's democratically elected president.
2 VERB If you elect to do something, you choose to do it. [FORMAL ] □ [V to-inf] After six months he elected to take early retirement
3 ADJ [n ADJ ] Elect is added after words such as 'president' or 'governor' to indicate that a person has been elected to the post but has not officially started to carry out the duties involved. [FORMAL ] □ …the date when the president-elect takes office. SYNONYMS elect VERB 1
vote for: Many would vote for the government if there was a new leader.
choose: They will be able to choose their own leaders in democratic elections.
pick: She had picked ten people to interview for six sales jobs in London.
select: Voters are selecting candidates for both U.S. Senate seats and congressional seats.
elec|tion ◆◆◆ / I le kʃ ə n/ (elections )
1 N‑VAR An election is a process in which people vote to choose a person or group of people to hold an official position. □ …the first fully free elections for more than fifty years. □ The final election results will be announced on Friday. □ Many residents say they have little or no idea who's standing for election.