leg

/lɛg/

/lɛg/

Other forms: legs

A leg is the part of a person's body that they use to walk around. All legs, including those of humans and tables alike, are meant to support.

Your leg is the appendage that stretches from your hip to your ankle, bending handily at the knee so you can run, walk, jump, sit, and skip. You probably also use the word leg to refer to one side of your pants; a support holding a table up; and one separate section of a long trip: "I'm stopping for coffee on the next leg of my journey." Leg probably comes from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to bend."

Definitions of leg

1. noun

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

   peg, pin, stick

   informal terms for the leg

   bandy leg, bandyleg, bow leg, bowleg, genu varum, tibia vara

   a leg bowed outward at the knee (or below the knee)

   shank's mare, shank's pony, shanks' mare, shanks' pony

   you own legs

   spindlelegs, spindleshanks

   long thin legs

   type of:

   limb

   one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper
2. noun

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

   prehensor

   the anterior pair of legs of a centipede that are modified to seize prey and inject venom from the toxicognaths

   animal leg

   the leg of an animal

   type of:

   limb

   one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper
3. noun

   the limb of an animal used for food
   types:

   ham hock

   a small cut of meat from the leg just above the foot

   gigot, leg of lamb

   lamb leg suitable for roasting

   type of:

   cut, cut of meat

   a piece of meat that has been cut from an animal carcass
4. noun

   a prosthesis that replaces a missing leg
   synonyms: peg, pegleg, wooden leg

   type of:

   prosthesis, prosthetic device

   corrective consisting of a replacement for a part of the body
5. noun

   a cloth covering consisting of the part of a pair of trousers that covers a person's leg
   types:

   pant leg, trouser leg

   the leg of a pair of trousers

   type of:

   cloth covering

   a covering made of cloth
6. noun

   one of the supports for a piece of furniture
   type of:

   support

   any device that bears the weight of another thing
7. noun

   a part of a forked or branching shape
   synonyms: branch, ramification

   types:

   bifurcation

   a bifurcating branch (one or both of them)

   brachium

   (biology) a branching or armlike part of an animal

   crotch, fork

   the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches

   type of:

   subfigure

   a figure that is a part of another figure
8. noun

   a section or portion of a journey or course
   synonyms: stage

   types:

   fare-stage

   a section along the route of a bus for which the fare is the same

   type of:

   travel, traveling, travelling

   the act of going from one place to another
9. noun

   (nautical) the distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack
   type of:

   distance, length

   size of the gap between two places