Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
blackleg. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
blackleg, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
blackleg in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
blackleg you have here. The definition of the word
blackleg will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
blackleg, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From black + leg.
Noun
blackleg (countable and uncountable, plural blacklegs)
- (uncountable, agriculture, veterinary medicine) A fatal cattle disease caused by the soil-borne bacterium Clostridium chauvoei; symptomatic anthrax.
- (uncountable) A disease of potato crops caused by pectolytic bacteria, characterized by blackening and decay of the lower stem portion.
- (countable) A person who cheats in a game; a cheater, especially a dishonest bookmaker.
1836 December 31, Laurie Todd, “Letter from Laurie Todd: Christmas and New-Year’s-Day”, in New-York Mirror, a Weekly Journal, Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts, volume XIV, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Scott & Co., printers, →OCLC, page 211, column 1:[H]ere, then, was a community of good taste and kind feeling, no sharpers, no black-legs, no wolves in sheep's clothing.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 32, in The History of Pendennis. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1849–1850, →OCLC:[Y]our friend Bloundell-Bloundell is a professional blackleg, and travels the Continent, where he picks up young gentlemen of fashion and fleeces them.
- 1852?, The Sporting Magazine (page 185)
- They have no regard for respectability like yours — nothing between a baron and a blackleg.
1908, W B M Ferguson, chapter II, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 25:I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.
- (countable) A person who takes the place of striking workers; a scab.
- Synonyms: scalie, strikebreaker
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 364–365: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.
1970 June, traditional (lyrics and music), “The Blackleg Miner” (track 4), in Hark! The Village Wait, performed by Steeleye Span:It's in the evening after dark when the blackleg miner creeps to work. With his moleskin pants and his dirty shirt, there goes the blackleg miner.
Derived terms
Translations
person who cheats in a game
— see also cheater
Further reading
Verb
blackleg (third-person singular simple present blacklegs, present participle blacklegging, simple past and past participle blacklegged)
- To continue working whilst fellow workers strike.
1939, Philip George Chadwick, The Death Guard, page 154:Why was I there, munitioning, blacklegging, slaving as though my bread depended on it?