coudoyer

Coudoyer is a somewhat literary variant of côtoyer, meaning to rub elbows with or move among people or things (coudoyer la foule, coudoyer le danger). Modern French uses côtoyer far more often; coudoyer shows up mostly in literary or slightly dated prose.

• Dans cette foule, on coudoie des gens de toutes les classes sociales. — In this crowd, you rub elbows with people from every social class.
• Le journaliste a longtemps coudoyé le danger sur le terrain. — The journalist long rubbed shoulders with danger in the field.
• Elle coudoyait les grands artistes de son époque. — She moved among the great artists of her time.

A learner reaching for this idea in everyday speech should default to côtoyer — coudoyer is correct but reads as noticeably more literary.

Often confused with côtoyer.