to bend one's elbow

9.1

To drink alcohol with other people in a social place

idiom

: beber

After a long week's work, he loves to bend his elbow at the local tavern.

Examples

Many old friends gathered to bend their elbows and share stories at the reunion.
She prefers tea and rarely bends her elbow even on special occasions.
He loves to bend his elbow after work.
Let's bend Tom's elbow tonight!
After a long week's work, he loves to bend his elbow at the local tavern.
Many old friends gathered to bend their elbows and share stories at the reunion.
He enjoys to bend his elbow with colleagues during happy hour every Friday.

Synonyms

to wet the whistle

vsto bend one's elbow

Informal

6.3

To have a quick drink to feel less thirsty

focuses on drinking alcohol socially rather than just to quench thirst

Antonyms

to sober up

33 4.6

To stop being drunk and feel normal again

How Much

binge

53 5.6

to bend one's elbow

9.1

to sip

127 1.0

to abstain

18 5.0

Surface Forms

bend one's elbow infinitive

bending one's elbow present participle

bends one's elbow third person singular

bent one's elbow past

bent one's elbow past participle

Morphology

bend + one's + elbow

The phrase evokes the literal action of bending the elbow when lifting a drink, so a learner who knows 'bend' and 'elbow' could plausibly associate it with drinking. However, the extension to the specific idiomatic meaning 'to drink alcoholic beverages' is not fully predictable from the parts; cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g. Spanish 'doblar el codo', French 'plier le coude') make it more recognizable but still only partially transparent.

Etymology

The idiom bend one's elbow comes from the clear picture of lifting a glass: you bend your elbow to bring the glass to your mouth. So the phrase now means 'to drink alcohol', often with friends.