land legs

American  

plural noun

1. the ability to adjust one's sense of balance and motion to walking on land, as after a sea journey or flight.

   It took the astronauts some time to regain their land legs after the long space mission.

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Etymology

Origin of land legs

First recorded in 1870–75; on the model of sea legs

Example Sentences

“Say, Miss L, now that I’ve got my land legs back, I feel a bit silly about sending all those letters from the briny deep. What was I thinking, throwing bottles overboard and imagining they’d somehow reach you on a landlocked English estate? But when you’re at sea, it’s hard to remember what dry land is like.”

From Literature

River — it’s time to celebrate and get your land legs back.

From Los Angeles Times

The vertebrates that did venture on land were still getting their land legs.

From New York Times

First, I was just a lad of 39 when I wrote the above-referenced op-ed; practically a baby, a spring chicken, a tadpole with little nubs of cynical land legs just beginning to show.

From Salon

The others - the Brits, a Spaniard and a Portuguese - got visas for a month, allowing them to restock with fresh food and regain their land legs.

From BBC