milk leg

American

noun

Pathology.

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

milk leg British

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of milk leg

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He was subject to attacks of pain in the milk leg.

From More Tish by Rinehart, Mary Roberts

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

She wouldn't believe me if I did—though why a fellow would make up a milk leg I don't know.

From More Tish by Rinehart, Mary Roberts

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

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

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023