elbowroom

[el-boh-room, -roo m] /ˈɛl boʊˌrum, -ˌrʊm/

noun

ample room; space in which to move freely.

scope; opportunity:

a job with elbowroom.

Origin

1530-40; elbow + room

British Dictionary definitions for elbow room

elbowroom

/ˈɛlbəʊˌruːm; -ˌrʊm/

noun

sufficient scope to move or function

Slang definitions & phrases for elbow room

elbow room

noun phrase

Barely enough space for the occupant; a minimum of space: This office is so crowded I couldn't find elbow room for anyone else/ Don't crowd so, give me elbow room

[1700s+; propagated in the US because it was a nickname for General John Burgoyne, who boasted in the 1770s that he would find elbow room in this country]

Idioms and Phrases with elbow room

elbow room

Enough space to move about, as in Two hundred on the stage? There won't be any elbow room. This term alludes to having enough room to extend one's elbows. [ Late 1500s ]