blackleg

American  

[blak-leg] / ˈblækˌlɛg /

noun

1. Also called black quarter.  Also called symptomatic anthrax.  Veterinary Pathology. an infectious, often fatal disease of cattle and sheep, caused by the soil bacterium Clostridium chauvoei and characterized by painful, gaseous swellings in the muscles, usually of the upper parts of the legs.

2. Plant Pathology.

   1. a disease of cabbage and other cruciferous plants, characterized by dry, black lesions on the base of the stem, caused by a fungus, Phoma lingam.

   2. a disease of potatoes, characterized by wet, black lesions on the base of the stem, caused by a bacterium, Erwinia atroseptica.

3. a swindler, especially in racing or gambling.

4. British Informal. a strikebreaker; scab.

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verb (used with object)

British Informal.

blacklegged, blacklegging

1. to replace (a worker) who is on strike.

2. to refuse to support (a union, union workers, or a strike).

3. to betray or deceive (a person or cause).

verb (used without object)

blacklegged, blacklegging

1. British Informal. to return to work before a strike is settled.

blackleg British  

/ ˈblæklɛɡ /

noun

1. Also called: scab. 

   1. a person who acts against the interests of a trade union, as by continuing to work during a strike or taking over a striker's job

   2. ( as modifier )

      blackleg labour

2. Also called: black quarter.  an acute infectious disease of cattle, sheep, and pigs, characterized by gas-filled swellings, esp on the legs, caused by Clostridium bacteria

3. plant pathol

   1. a fungal disease of cabbages and related plants caused by Phoma lingam , characterized by blackening and decay of the lower stems

   2. a similar disease of potatoes, caused by bacteria

4. a person who cheats in gambling, esp at cards or in racing

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verb

1. to act against the interests of a trade union, esp by refusing to join a strike

Etymology

Origin of blackleg

First recorded in 1715–25; black + leg; the origin of nonliteral senses is unclear; jackleg

Example Sentences

Phil Burbank is based on Savage’s step-uncle, eccentric William “Bill” Brenner, who died of blackleg just as Phil dies of anthrax.

From Washington Post • Feb. 15, 2022

So we both knew the difference, when the blackleg hit.

From Nature • Nov. 13, 2018

His first film as producer was The Angry Silence, an anti-trades union tract, in which Attenborough was a blackleg and yet a hero.

From The Guardian • Aug. 24, 2014

Or they can be plants with virus or blackleg, or plants that are not "true-to-type", meaning they have the wrong morphology and are therefore too tall or deformed in another way, he adds.

From BBC • Jun. 20, 2012

Is it to a house which displays the royal arms over the entrance-door men come to play blackleg or clown?

From Paul Gosslett's Confessions in Love, Law, and The Civil Service by Lever, Charles James