leg

leg
1 /leg/ noun
1 BODY PART (C) either of the two long parts of your body that your feet are joined to, or a similar part on an animal or insect: Angie broke her leg skiing. | A spider has 8 legs. | She's got long skinny legs.
2 FOOD (C, U) the leg of an animal when eaten as food: roast leg of lamb
3 FURNITURE (C) one of the upright parts that supports a piece of furniture: a chair leg
4 CLOTHING (C) the part of your trousers that covers your leg: The legs of my jeans were covered in mud.
5 JOURNEY/RACE (C) a part of a long journey, race, process etc that is done one part at a time: the final leg of the Tour de France
6 four-legged/two-legged etc having four legs, two legs etc: four-legged animals
-see also: cross-legged, bow-legged
7 leg room space in which to put your legs comfortably when you are sitting in a car, theatre etc
8 not have a leg to stand on informal to be in a situation where you cannot prove or legally support what you say: If you didn't sign a contract, you won't have a leg to stand on.
9 pull sb's leg informal to make a joke by telling someone something that is not actually true
10 be on its last legs informal to be in very bad condition and about to stop working: The Chevy really is on its last legs now.
11 get your leg over BrE slang to have sex with someone
12 SPORT (C) BrE one of the parts of a special football competition that is played in two parts
13 have legs informal especially AmE if a piece of news has legs, people continue to be interested in it and talk about it: These allegations don't have legs - they'll be forgotten by next week.
-see also: break a leg break 1 (46), leg-pull, leg-up, peg leg, sea legs, shake a leg shake 1 (11), show a leg show 1 (22), stretch your legs stretch 1 (12) 2 verb leg it BrE informal to run in order to escape from someone or something: We saw him coming, and legged it out of the house.

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • Leg — (l[e^]g), n. [Icel. leggr; akin to Dan. l[ae]g calf of the leg, Sw. l[ a]gg.] 1. 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. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • leg — [leg] n. [ME < ON leggr, a leg, limb < IE base * lek , limb > L lacertus, muscle, lacerta, lizard] 1. one of the parts of the body by means of which animals stand and walk, specif., in human beings, a) one of the lower limbs b) Anat. the …   English World dictionary

  • leg — ► NOUN 1) each of the limbs on which a person or animal moves and stands. 2) a long, thin support or prop, especially of a chair or table. 3) a section of a journey, process, or race. 4) (in sport) each of two or more games or stages constituting …   English terms dictionary

  • leg*/*/*/ — [leg] noun [C] 1) one of the parts of a person s or animal s body to which the feet are attached an exercise to strengthen the leg muscles[/ex] She sat down and crossed her legs.[/ex] 2) the part of a piece of clothing that covers one of your… …   Dictionary for writing and speaking English

  • legʷh- —     legʷh     English meaning: light (adj.)     Deutsche Übersetzung: “leicht in Bewegung and Gewicht”, verbal ‘sich leicht, flink bewegen”     Note: nasalized lengʷh     Material: 1. O.Ind. laghu , ved. raghu “rash, hasty, light, small”, compar …   Proto-Indo-European etymological dictionary

  • Leg — * Lêg, er, este, oder Lêge, r, ste, adj. et adv. welches nur in einigen gemeinen Mundarten üblich ist, wo es eigentlich niedrig bedeutet, in welchem Verstande es vorzüglich im Niederdeutschen vorkommt. Das Wasser ist leg, niedrig. Leges Wasser… …   Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart

  • leg-1 —     leg 1     English meaning: to drip, ooze, flow out     Deutsche Übersetzung: “tröpfeln, sickern, zergehen”     Material: Arm. lič ‘swamp, marsh” (*lēgi̯ ü); O.Ir. legaim “löse mich auf, zergehe, schmelze”, fo llega “(die ink) running from”,… …   Proto-Indo-European etymological dictionary

  • leĝ- —     leĝ     English meaning: to gather     Deutsche Übersetzung: “zusammenlesen, sammeln”     Material: Gk. λέγω ‘sammle, lese together, zähle, rede, say”, καταλέγω “verzeichne”, συλλογή ‘sammlung”, ἐκλογή “Auswahl”, λόγος, λέξις “ discourse “,… …   Proto-Indo-European etymological dictionary

  • Leg — (l[e^]g), v. t. To use as a leg, with it as object: (a) To bow. [Obs.] (b) To run. [Low] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • leg. — leg. 〈Abk. für ital.〉 legato * * * leg. = ↑ legato. * * * leg. = legato …   Universal-Lexikon

  • leg-up — leg ,up noun singular 1. ) INFORMAL if you give someone a leg up, you help them to make progress, especially in their career 2. ) if you give someone a leg up, you help them climb something by letting them put their foot in your hands and then… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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