Sharp-Elbowed Meaning

(idiomatic) Pushy; having a boldly assertive manner intended to establish an advantage.

Example: Possessing narrow, bony, rather pointed elbows.
1802, William Wordsworth, "The Pedlar":
  . . . dire faces, figures dire,
  Sharp-knee'd, sharp-elbowed, and lean-ankled too
1882, Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Professor at the Breakfast Table, ch. 1:
  â€”Go to the Bible!—said a sharp voice from a sharp-faced, sharp-eyed, sharp-elbowed, strenuous-looking woman in a black dress.
1977 Oct. 24, Michael and Ariane Batterberry, "Party Politics," New York Magazine, p. 81 (Google preview):
  No sooner had President Washington been sworn in, wearing mousy, egalitarian brown broadcloth, than the sharp-elbowed jockeying for social status began.
1990 Sep. 17, Richard Behar, "A Music King's Shattering Fall," Time (retrieved 28 June 2015):
  With his stocky build, spread-collar shirts and locker-room charm, Walter Yetnikoff fit right in among the sharp-elbowed power brokers in the music business.
2014 Dec. 4, Brooks Barnes and Michael Cieply, "Documentaries Jostle Against Oscar Obscurity," New York Times (retrieved 28 June 2015):
  Fifteen documentaries are in sharp-elbowed competition to be among the five Oscar nominees.