elbow bump

noun

plural elbow bumps

: a gesture in which two people bump their elbows together especially as an alternative to a handshake

It was before the public was told to wear masks, before the elbow bump became the new handshake, before all of the symptoms were known.

—CNN Wire

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, also attended the ceremony in New York, and he chatted with Mr. Biden, trading an elbow bump in lieu of a handshake, a nod to the pandemic.

—Annie Karni et al.

Examples of elbow bump in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Does anyone still elbow bump? —Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above