First recorded in 1885–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Vastly experienced leg-break bowler Adil Rashid leads the spin attack, with all-rounders Liam Dawson, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed giving Brook a range of slow-bowling options.
From Barron's ● Feb. 3, 2026
Hope was stumped off a ripping leg-break from Rashid for 20, but King was joined by Nicholas Pooran to complete a ruthless West Indies chase.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2022
A horrific double leg-break sustained against PSV Eindhoven in September 2015 proved to be the last time Shaw would play under Van Gaal.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2021
The Republic of Ireland have not won a competitive match since their best player, Séamus Coleman, suffered a double leg-break as a result of a tackle by Wales’s Neil Taylor in March.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 5, 2017
Every time it rained the old leg-break seemed to remember itself, and what it remembered was a dull hurt.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Alexander Isak's absence due to a leg break removed some of the simmering bad blood between the clubs over the Swede's British transfer record move to Anfield in September.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
The goalkeeper, 41, has played three times - in the Scottish Cup - since a year out with a double leg break.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2024
That greatly increases the risk of infection, as occurred with Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith, who suffered a gruesome leg break that, after subsequent infections, brought the risk of amputation and was life-threatening.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2021
It was an emotional and amazing moment when Smith returned to the field in Week 5 after missing nearly two years following a horrifying leg break.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2020
Smith returned this year from a compound leg break for a $16 million paycheck.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2020
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
