Link Centre Dictionary

leg

UK/ˈlɛɡ/ US/ˈlɛɡ/ common slang uk us

noun

1.

a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle

2.

a structure in animals that is similar to a human leg and used for locomotion

3.

one of the supports for a piece of furniture

4.

a part of a forked or branching shape

  • “he broke off one of the branches”
  • “they took the south fork”
Synonyms
5.

the limb of an animal used for food

6.

a prosthesis that replaces a missing leg

Synonyms
7.

cloth covering consisting of the part of a garment that covers the leg

8.
9.

a section or portion of a journey or course

  • “then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise”
Synonyms

Origin

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).

Phrases

  • a leg to stand on
  • an arm and a leg
  • base leg
  • break a leg
  • Cabriole leg
  • change the leg
  • chicken leg
  • Cochin leg
  • leg around
  • leg it
  • leg out
  • leg over

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.