Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An infectious, usually fatal bacterial disease of cattle and sometimes of sheep, goats, and swine, caused by Clostridium chauvoei and characterized by gas-containing swellings in the musculature.
- noun A bacterial or fungal disease of certain plants, such as the cabbage and potato, that causes the stems to turn black at the soil line.
- noun One who cheats at cards; a cardsharp.
- noun Chiefly British A worker who is opposed to trade unions; a scab.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A laborer who is not a member of a trade-gild or trade-union; a ‘scab.’
- noun A disease in cattle and sheep which affects the legs; symptomatic anthrax. See
anthrax . - noun A severe form of purpura.
- noun One who systematically tries to gain money fraudulently in connection with races, or with cards, billiards, or other games; a rook; a swindler.
- noun Same as
black-nob .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun colloq. A notorious gambler.
- noun engraving A disease among calves and sheep, characterized by a settling of gelatinous matter in the legs, and sometimes in the neck.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable
Fatal cattle disease caused by the soil-bornebacteria Clostridium chauvoei; symptomatic anthrax - noun countable A person who takes the place of
striking workers . Ascab . - noun countable A person who cheats in a game, a
cheater . - noun colloquial A notorious gambler.
- adjective Relating to a scab worker.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take the place of work of someone on strike
- noun someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
Etymologies
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Examples
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BURNS -- who has stuck loyally to Council -- fiercely denounced as a "blackleg" by crowd.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 103, October 29, 1892 Various
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One of their number stood out, refusing to join the combine; whereupon the rest summoned the gang and had the "blackleg" pressed for his contumacy.
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He thinks I am a kind of blackleg, not true to my principles; or rather he thinks that I am not a Christian at all, and only call myself one for the sake of the associations.
Father Payne Benson, Arthur C. 1915
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The most plausible ground is that of those [257] who, bringing marriage down to the level of prostitution, maintain that the prostitute is a "blackleg" who is accepting less than the "market rate of wages," i.e., marriage, for the sexual services she renders.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 6 Sex in Relation to Society Havelock Ellis 1899
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If an excited Unionist called a man a "blackleg" or "scab" in the Imperial bar he was run out -- sometimes with great difficulty, and occasionally as far as the lock-up.
Children of the Bush Henry Lawson 1894
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In our day he would have been called a "blackleg," and mobbed: perhaps, even in the seventeenth century, he needed protection, for the college built him
The Charm of Oxford 1892
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_Escroc_ as the French might call him; "blackleg" in the English vocabulary; "sport" in American phrase, Frank Lara is a man with whom no one who knows him likes to take liberties.
The Flag of Distress A Story of the South Sea Mayne Reid 1850
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A kind of blackleg doing the work cheaper -- nay, for nothing. "
The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes Israel Zangwill 1895
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A kind of blackleg doing the work cheaper -- nay, for nothing. "
The Big Bow Mystery Israel Zangwill 1895
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Now, he leans over his guitar and begins strumming the melody and summoning the vengeful lyrics: "Across the way they stretch a line/To catch the throat and break the spine/Of the dirty blackleg miner."
whichbe commented on the word blackleg
A scab during a union strike.
June 7, 2008