rub elbows
(idiomatic, intransitive, chiefly, US) To associate closely; to consort, mingle or socialize.
Definitions
(idiomatic, intransitive, chiefly, US) To associate closely; to consort, mingle or socialize.
We have in fact nothing to say against the worthy purveyor, further than that he is an intruder when he rubs elbows with the regular audience, and that the utmost personal contact to which he should aspire, is that which makes an ice, a …
“I'm glad that for the moment I'm able to rub elbows with certain people and not have it be on hostile terms. Probably doesn't mean much, but common enemy and all that stuff.”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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