BLACKLEG • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Blackleg

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noun

Blackleg n.

A notorious gambler. (Colloq.)

A disease among calves and sheep, characterized by a settling of gelatinous matter in the legs, and sometimes in the neck. (Eng.)

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Etymology of 'Blackleg'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Blackleg" Quotes from Famous Books

... were readily forgiven. He had denounced duelling as barbarous, yet when sharp-tongued John Randolph referred to him and Adams as having, in 1825, formed "the coalition of Blifil and Black George, the combination of the Puritan and the blackleg"—for Clay gambled—Clay challenged him. They met, the diminutive Randolph being in his dressing-gown. Neither was hurt, as Randolph fired in air and Clay was no shot. Being asked why he did not kill Randolph, Clay said: "I aimed at the part of his gown where I thought ...

— History of the United States, Volume 3 (of 6) • E. Benjamin Andrews

... blackleg if once they were got into the union," persisted Nellie. "It's worth trying, to get a rise in wages and to stop fining and have shorter hours and seats ...

— The Workingman's Paradise - An Australian Labour Novel • John Miller

... 'A blackleg, a blackleg!' shouted Bowles. 'Bookmakers are respectable men in comparison with him. He's bled me, the brute! He tempted me on and on— Look here, Mr. Lott, I know as well as you do that I've been an infernal fool. I've had my eyes opened—now that it's too late. I hear my wife told you ...

— The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories • George Gissing

... assassinated. It is, in fact, rather curious. The thing happens very seldom, and then it is usually in the South, where the motive is not altruistic but political. That is to say, the assassin merely desires to remove one blackleg in order to make a place for some other blackleg. He has no objection to systematized injustice; all he desires is that it be dispensed in ...

— The American Credo - A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind • George Jean Nathan