milk leg

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a painful swelling of the leg soon after childbirth, due to thrombosis of the large veins.

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milk leg British  

noun

1. Technical name: phlegmasia alba dolens.  Also called: white leg.  inflammation and thrombosis of the femoral vein following childbirth, characterized by painful swelling of the leg

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Etymology

Origin of milk leg

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

"He's got a milk leg," I said, and set the coffee kettle off.

From More Tish by Rinehart, Mary Roberts

It came in the shape of a milk leg.

From Horses Nine Stories of Harness and Saddle by Ford, Sewell

One of dad's calves made him look as though he had a milk leg, cause the padding would not stay around where the calf ought to be, but worked around towards his shin.

From Peck's Bad Boy Abroad Being a Humorous Description of the Bad Boy and His Dad in Their Journeys Through Foreign Lands - 1904 by Peck, George W. (George Wilbur)

Perhaps it was that Silver's milk leg was stubborn in yielding to treatment.

From Horses Nine Stories of Harness and Saddle by Ford, Sewell

No. The truth is, I've had a milk leg.

From More Tish by Rinehart, Mary Roberts