give the elbow

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

give the elbow (third-person singular simple present gives the elbow, present participle giving the elbow, simple past gave the elbow, past participle given the elbow)

1. (transitive, slang, British) To fire (an employee); to end a relationship with someone; to reject someone.

   They said I couldn't do the job so they gave me the elbow. So, now I'm looking for work again.

   When are you finally going to give your boyfriend the elbow?

Synonyms

• elbow out / aside / out of the way
• fire
• sack
• See also Thesaurus:lay off

Translations

to fire

• Finnish: antaa potkut
• French: virer (fr), dégager (fr), larguer (fr)