blackleg
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blackleg
Where it comes from
From black + leg.
noun blacklegs
- A fatal cattle disease caused by the soil-borne bacterium Clostridium chauvoei; symptomatic anthrax. “Soon afther, some mischances begun to happen to the farmer's cattle; a horse tuk the staggers, a fine vale calf died o' the black-lig, an' some uv his sheep o' the rid wather[.]”
- A disease of potato crops caused by pectolytic bacteria, characterized by blackening and decay of the lower stem portion.
- A disease of brassicas caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans
- A person who cheats in a game; a cheater, especially a dishonest bookmaker. [H]ere, then, was a community of good taste and kind feeling, no sharpers, no black-legs, no wolves in sheep's clothing.
-
A person who takes the place of striking workers.
In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.
Similar: blacklegger, scab, scalie, strikebreaker
verb blacklegs · blacklegging · blacklegged
- To continue working whilst fellow workers strike. Why was I there, munitioning, blacklegging, slaving as though my bread depended on it?
Translations
Every language
noun fatal cattle disease
| 日本語 | 黒脚病 kuro ashi-byō |
|---|---|
| Français | charbon symptomatique |
| Deutsch | Schwarzbeinigkeit |
| Русский | чёрная но́жка čórnaja nóžka |
noun person who cheats in a game — see also cheater
| Русский | шу́лер šúler |
|---|
Talk about this word "blackleg." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/blackleg. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. blackleg. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/blackleg "blackleg." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/blackleg.Cite this
@misc{blackleg_2026,
title = {blackleg},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/blackleg},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
