leg

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leg¹

  • /lɛɡ/
  • [lɛɡ]
  • /leɡ/ Australia
  • [leɡ] Australia
  • /leɪ̯ɡ/
  • [leɪ̯ɡ]

Sounds like lag (/æ/ raising) · Rhymes with -ɛɡ

Where it comes from

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).

noun legs · legge

  1. A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land. Insects have six legs.
  2. 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.
  3. The portion of the lower limb of a human that extends from the knee to the ankle.
  4. A part of garment, such as a pair of trousers/pants, that covers a leg. The left leg of these jeans has a tear.

    Similar: pant leg, pantleg

  5. 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
  6. figuratively Something that supports. This observation is an important leg of my argument.
  7. A stage of a journey, race etc. After six days, we're finally in the last leg of our cross-country trip.
  8. A distance that a sailing vessel does without changing the sails from one side to the other.
  9. One side of a multiple-sided (often triangular) course in a sailing race.
  10. A single game or match played in a tournament or other sporting contest. 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.
  11. One of the two sides of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.

    Similar: cathetus

  12. One of the two equal sides of an isosceles triangle.
  13. One of the branches of a hyperbola or other curve which extend outward indefinitely.
  14. plural normally The ability of something to persist or succeed over a long period of time. This proposal has no legs. Almost everyone opposes it.
  15. UK, archaic, slang A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.
  16. 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.

    Similar: water leg

  17. In a grain elevator, the case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.
  18. attributive Denotes the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman. ;

    Similar: on · Opposite: off

  19. A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.
  20. A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.
  21. An underlying instrument of a derivatives strategy.
  22. US, slang An army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper. Which was lower than whale shit in the eyes of any paratrooper; it would have been a disgrace to be a leg.
  23. archaic A gesture of submission; a bow or curtsey. Chiefly in phrase make a leg. Hickman came in, making his legs, and stroking his cravat and ruffles.
  24. A column, as a unit of length of text as laid out. A leg is one column of a story. It has two legs if it is set in two columns and three legs if it is set in three columns. Avoid legs longer than 10 inches and shorter than 1 inch.
  25. Synonym of leg up (“forming a step for a person's feet with one's hands”). The street was deserted. We acted quickly. Josiah gave me a leg. I threw my jacket over the broken glass […]

    Similar: leg up

  26. An individual bet in a parlay (a series of bets where the stake and winnings are cumulatively carried forward). If one leg from your 2-way parlay pushes and the other wins, your parlay bet wins and is paid off as if it's a straight bet (paying -110 or whatever the odds were).
  27. archaic, slang Synonym of blackleg (“a gambling cheat”).

    Similar: blackleg

Similar: drumstick, gam, leg

verb legs · legging · legged

  1. To remove the legs from an animal carcass.
  2. To build legs onto a platform or stage for support.
  3. To put a series of three or more options strikes into the stock market.
  4. To apply force using the leg (as in 'to leg a horse').
  5. To thrust up or raise via the legs; to give a leg-up to. I was led along to a big lanky thing, and with my heart thumping I was legged on to his back.

leg²

noun

  1. alternative, no plural Alternative spelling of leg.

Similar: drumstick, gam, leg

adjective

  1. alternative, not comparable Alternative spelling of leg.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: branch, fork, peg, stage, pegleg, wooden leg, limb, paw, foot, thigh, arm, knee, span, shin, tibia, rump

noun

Similar: drumstick, gam, leg

noun

Similar: drumstick, gam, leg

Translations

Every language

noun lower limb from groin to ankle

Españolpierna, pata, calanca
한국어다리 dari, 각 gak
日本語脚 ashi, 足 ashi
中文腿 tuǐ, 腳 /脚 jiǎo
हिन्दीपांव pāmv, पैर pair, पाया pāyā, टांग ṭāṅg, टाँग ṭāṅg, पाँव pā̃v
Kiswahilimguu
Portuguêsperna
Françaisjambe
DeutschBein
Italianogamba, zampa, coscia
Ελληνικάπόδι pódi
Românăgambă, picior
Русскийнога́ nogá
Tiếng Việtchân, giò, cẳng
العربيةرِجْل rijl, سَاق sāq
עבריתרֶגֶל régel

noun portion of the lower appendage from knee to ankle

한국어종아리 jong'ari, 하퇴 hatoe
日本語下腿 katai
中文小腿 xiǎotuǐ
Kiswahilimguu
Portuguêsperna
Françaisjambe
DeutschUnterschenkel

noun part of garment covering the leg

Españolpernera
Kiswahilisura
Portuguêscalça
DeutschHosenbein
Русскийштани́на štanína

noun supporting protrusion of an inanimate object

Españolpata
Kiswahilisura
Portuguêspé
Русскийно́жка nóžka

noun stage of journey

Españoletapa
한국어여정 yeojeong, 구간 gugan
Kiswahilisura
Portuguêsetapa
DeutschEtappe, Abschnitt
Русскийэта́п etáp, перехо́д perexód

noun (nautical) distance done without changing the sails from one side to the other

Kiswahilisura

noun (nautical) side of a route in a sailing race

Kiswahilisura

noun game played in a tournament

한국어경기 gyeonggi
Kiswahilisura
Portuguêspartida
DeutschSatz
Русскийэта́п etáp, круг krug, тур tur

noun (mathematics) leg (non-hypotenuse) of a right triangle

Españolcateto
한국어변 byeon, 빗변 bitbyeon
Portuguêscateto
Françaiscathète
DeutschKathete
Italianocateto
Русскийка́тет kátet
עבריתניצב \ נִצָּב nitsáv

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MLA

"leg." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/leg. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

leg. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/leg

Chicago

"leg." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/leg.

BibTeX
@misc{leg_2026,
  title = {leg},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/leg},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}