leg

Alternative forms

• legge (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English leg, from Old Norse leggr (“leg, calf, bone of the arm or leg, hollow tube, stalk”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz, *lagwijaz (“leg, thigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *(ǝ)lak-, *lēk- (“leg; the main muscle of the arm or leg”). Cognate with Scots leg (“leg”), Icelandic leggur (“leg, limb”), Norwegian legg (“leg”), Swedish lägg (“leg, shank, shaft”), Danish læg (“leg”), Lombardic lagi (“thigh, shank, leg”), Latin lacertus (“limb, arm”), Persian لنگ‎ (leng). Upon borrowing, displaced the native Old English term scanca.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /lɛɡ/
• (some US dialects) IPA^(key): /leɪɡ/^[1]

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɡ

Noun

leg (plural legs)

1. The lower limb of a human being or animal that extends 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.

   • 2015 February 12, “How X-Men: Days of Future Past Should Have Ended”, in How It Should Have Ended‎, season 7, episode 3, written by Tina Alexander and Daniel Baxter, YouTube, How It Should Have Ended:

     Hey, fellas! Just outside enjoying my legs!

2. (anatomy) The portion of the lower appendage of a human that extends from the knee to the ankle.
3. A part of garment, such as a pair of trousers/pants, that covers a leg.

   The left leg of these jeans has a tear.

4. A stage of a journey, race etc.

   After six days, we're finally in the last leg of our cross-country trip.

5. (nautical) A distance that a sailing vessel does without changing the sails from one side to the other.
6. (nautical) One side of a multiple-sided (often triangular) course in a sailing race.
7. (sports) A single game or match played in a tournament or other sporting contest.
   • 2011 November 11, Rory Houston, “Estonia 0-4 Republic of Ireland”, in RTE Sport‎:

     A stunning performance from the Republic of Ireland all but sealed progress to Euro 2012 as they crushed nine-man Estonia 4-0 in the first leg of the qualifying play-off tie in A Le Coq Arena in Tallinn.

8. (geometry) One of the two sides of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.
9. (geometry) One of the branches of a hyperbola or other curve which extend outward indefinitely.
10. A rod-like protrusion from an inanimate object, supporting it from underneath.

    the legs of a chair or table

11. (usually used in plural) evidence, the ability for a thing or idea to succeed or persist
12. (Britain, slang, archaic) A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.
13. An extension of a steam boiler downward, in the form of a narrow space between vertical plates, sometimes nearly surrounding the furnace and ash pit, and serving to support the boiler; called also water leg.
14. In a grain elevator, the case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.
15. (cricket) A fielder whose position is on the outside, a little in rear of the batter.
16. (telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.
17. (electrical) A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.
18. (US, slang, military) An army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper.

Verb

leg (third-person singular simple present legs, present participle legging, simple past and past participle legged)

1. To put a series of three or more options strikes into the stock market.
2. To remove the legs from an animal carcass.
3. To build legs onto a platform or stage for support.

References

Anagrams

• ELG, ElG, gel

Alternative forms

• legu

Etymology

From Latin ligō. Compare Daco-Romanian lega, leg.

Verb

leg (second-person singular present indicative ledz, third-person singular present indicative leadzi/leadze, second-person plural present indicative ligats, past participle ligatã)

1. I tie, bind.

Etymology 1

From Old Norse leikr.

Etymology 2

Noun

leg

1. neck; throat

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛx/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛx

Verb

leg

1. first-person singular present indicative of leggen
2. imperative of leggen

Anagrams

• gel

Alternative forms

• lege

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leːk/

Verb

leg

1. (colloquial) First-person singular present of legen.
2. Imperative singular of legen.
3. (colloquial) First-person singular subjunctive I of legen.
4. (colloquial) Third-person singular subjunctive I of legen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛːɣ/
• Rhymes: -ɛːɣ

Noun

leg n (genitive singular legs, nominative plural leg)

1. uterus

Alternative forms

• legge, leggue, leige, lige

Etymology

From Old Norse leggr, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛɡ/

Noun

leg (plural legges)

1. leg, limb
2. shank, shin
3. leg (cut of meat)
4. leg armour
5. The stem of a wine glass

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [leɡ]

Verb

leg

1. first-person singular present indicative of lega.
2. first-person singular present subjunctive of lega.

Abbreviation

leg

1. certified, authorized; indicating an authorized medical doctor, not a quack. Abbreviation of legitimerad.

Noun

leg n

1. (slang) ID card showing the owner's age; Abbreviation of legitimation.

   jag fick visa leg på systemet

   at the state monopoly liquor store, they asked me to verify my age

Etymology

From English leg.

Noun

leg

1. lower leg, foot

Etymology

From Old Norse leg.

Noun

leg n (definite leje, dative lejen)

1. afterbirth from calving