three-legged
Americanadjective
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having three legs.
a three-legged stool.
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Informal. (of a schooner) having three masts.
Etymology
Origin of three-legged
First recorded in 1590–1600
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.
Here’s why: Visualize your retirement as a three-legged stool.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 27, 2026
In another enclosure, Mozart, a three-legged gray fox with no spleen, peered warily from a tunnel of corrugated tubing.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2024
And so I think of accountability as kind of a three-legged stool.
From Slate • Sep. 7, 2024
Stewart ended his third Monday night broadcast since returning to “The Daily Show” by eulogizing his beloved three-legged pittie mix — tearfully, despite his strongest efforts to dam up that river.
From Salon • Mar. 4, 2024
The only thing that kills chickens is Mr. Riley’s three-legged dog.”
From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
