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ell
1
[el] 
–noun
| 1. | an extension usually at right angles to one end of a building. |
| 2. | elbow (def. 5). |
| 3. | something that is L-shaped. |
ell
2 [el] –noun
| a former measure of length, varying in different countries: in England equal to 45 in. (114 cm). |
el⋅bow
[el-boh] –noun
| 1. | the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm. |
| 2. | the corresponding joint in the forelimb of a quadruped. |
| 3. | something bent like an elbow, as a sharp turn in a road or river, or a piece of pipe bent at an angle. |
| 4. | Architecture. crossette. |
| 5. | Also called ell, el. a plumbing pipe or pipe connection having a right-angled bend. |
–verb (used with object)
| 6. | to push with or as if with the elbow; jostle. |
| 7. | to make (one's way) by so pushing. |
–verb (used without object)
—Idioms| 8. | to elbow one's way: He elbowed through the crowd. |
| 9. | at one's elbow, within easy reach; nearby: A virtue of the cottage is that the ocean is at your elbow. |
| 10. | bend, lift, or crook an elbow, Informal. to drink alcoholic beverages. |
| 11. | give the elbow, shove aside, get rid of, or reject. |
| 12. | out at the elbows,
|
| 13. | rub elbows with, to mingle socially with; associate with: a resort where royalty rubs elbows with the merely rich. |
| 14. | up to one's elbows, very busy; engrossed: I am up to my elbows in answering mail. Also, up to the elbows. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To ell
| el 1 also ell (ěl) n. The letter l. |
| ell 1 (ěl) n.
[From its resemblance to the shape of the capital letter L, or short for elbow.] |
| ell 2 (ěl) n. Any of several historical units of measure corresponding roughly to the length of the arm, especially the English measure equal to 45 inches (114 centimeters). [Middle English, from Old English eln, the length from the elbow to the middle finger's tip, ell; see el- in Indo-European roots.] |
| ell 3 (ěl) n. Variant of el1. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ell
Ell\, n. [AS. eln; akin to D. el, elle, G. elle, OHG. elina, Icel. alin, Dan. alen, Sw. aln, Goth. alenia, L. ulna elbow, ell, Gr. ? elbow. Cf. Elbow, Alnage.] A measure for cloth; -- now rarely used. It is of different lengths in different countries; the English ell being 45 inches, the Dutch or Flemish ell 27, the Scotch about 37.Ell
Ell\, n. (Arch.) See L.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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ell
O.E. eln "unit of measure of 45 inches," originally "length of the arm," from PIE *el- "elbow, forearm" (cf. Gk. olene "elbow," L. ulna, Arm. uln "shoulder," Skt. anih "part of the leg above the knee," Lith. alkune "elbow"). The exact distance varied, depending on whose arm was used as the base and whether it was measured from the shoulder to the fingertip or the wrist: the Scot. ell was 37.2 inches, the Flem. 27 inches. L. ulna also was a unit of linear measure.
"Whereas shee tooke an inche of liberty before, tooke an ell afterwardes" [1580].Sense of "building extension" is Amer.Eng. 1773, for resemblance to the shape of the alphabet letter.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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