leg
/lɛɡ/ noun, verb
Also a form of foreleg
Forms legs legging legged legge
- noun (anatomy) A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land. “Insects have six legs.”
- noun (anatomy) In humans, the lower limb extending from the groin to the ankle. “Dan won't be able to come to the party, since he broke his leg last week and is now on crutches.”
- noun (anatomy) The portion of the lower limb of a human that extends from the knee to the ankle.
- noun A part of garment, such as a pair of trousers/pants, that covers a leg. “The left leg of these jeans has a tear.”
- noun A rod-like protrusion from an inanimate object, such as a piece of furniture, supporting it from underneath. “the legs of a chair or table”
- noun (figurative) Something that supports. “This observation is an important leg of my argument.”
- noun A stage of a journey, race etc. “After six days, we're finally in the last leg of our cross-country trip.”
- noun (nautical) A distance that a sailing vessel does without changing the sails from one side to the other.
- verb To remove the legs from an animal carcass.
- verb To build legs onto a platform or stage for support.
- verb To put a series of three or more options strikes into the stock market.
- verb To apply force using the leg (as in 'to leg a horse').
- verb To thrust up or raise via the legs; to give a leg-up to.
Synonyms
pant leg pantleg cathetus water leg on leg up blackleg drumstick gam branch ramification peg wooden leg pegleg stage
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English leg, legge, from Old Norse leggr (“leg, calf, bone of the arm or leg, hollow tube, stalk”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz, *lagwijaz (“leg, thigh”) (see it for more).
Cognate with Scots leg (“leg”), Icelandic leggur (“leg, limb”), Norwegian Bokmål legg (“leg”), Norwegian Nynorsk legg (“leg”), Swedish lägg (“leg, shank, shaft”), Danish læg (“leg”), Lombardic lagi (“thigh, shank, leg”), Latin lacertus (“limb, arm”), Persian لنگ (leng). Upon borrowing, mostly displaced the native Old English term sċanca (Modern English shank).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A limb or member of an animal used for supporting the body, and in running, climbing, and swimming; esp., that part of the limb between the knee and foot.
- noun That which resembles a leg in form or use; especially, any long and slender support on which any object rests; as, the leg of a table; the leg of pair of compasses or dividers.
- verb To use as a leg, with it as object: (a) To bow. [Obs.] (b) To run [Low]
Etymology [Icel. leggr; akin to Dan. læg calf of the leg, Sw. lägg.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “leg”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details