codear

To elbow or nudge someone with the elbow (codear a alguien para llamar su atención), and — much more commonly, in its reflexive form codearse con — to rub shoulders with, to socialize with people of a certain status: codearse con los famosos.

• Me codeó suavemente para que mirara hacia la puerta. — She elbowed me gently to get me to look toward the door.
• Le encanta codearse con gente influyente. — He loves rubbing shoulders with influential people.
• En ese club te codeas con empresarios y políticos. — At that club, you rub shoulders with businesspeople and politicians.

The literal "elbow nudge" sense (codear) is much rarer in speech than the reflexive social-climbing sense (codearse con) — don't overuse the literal meaning when the idiomatic one is what's usually meant.

Often confused with relacionarse.

• expression "Codearse con" — A common fixed expression meaning to socialize or rub shoulders with people of a certain (often elevated) status — confirmed as a standard idiom in Spanish usage and dictionary sources, from codo ("elbow").