Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun short for a bootlegger
  • noun UK, obsolete A man employed by the owners of a canal to push boats through narrow canal tunnels. The legger would lie on his back on a piece of wood on the boat with his feet reaching to the tunnel wall, and walk it along. This could be done by the boat's crew, but the canals employed men specifically for the task because they could do it faster and prevent a tunnel becoming a bottleneck for traffic.

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • A man employed by the owners of a canal to push boats through narrow canal tunnels. The legger would lie on his back on the boat with his legs reaching the tunnel wall, and push it along. This could be done by the boat's crew, but the canals employed men specifically for the task because they could do it faster and prevent a tunnel becoming a bottleneck for traffic.

    July 24, 2008

  • A strange existence when you really imagine it - like being a trapped beetle. Kafkaesque.

    July 24, 2008

  • that actually sounds pretty fun -- i've never really thought about this before, but people don't get enough opportunities to push off of things with their feet while not standing! the only two i can think of are playing "this swively-chair is now a means of transportation" and giving small-enough people airplane rides on your feet.

    July 26, 2008

  • I wonder what kind of health insurance plan they had.

    July 29, 2008

  • My physical therapist has plenty of gadgets for pushing things with feet while not standing!

    July 29, 2008

  • Do they involve sailing under canal tunnels in a boat?

    July 30, 2008

  • I'm imagining ye olde Venetian video game which involves trying to cross a canal tunnel without being squished by a gondola being booted along.

    July 30, 2008

  • At the end of a busy day, all the leggers get together for a big ale bash, known as a legger kegger.

    July 30, 2008

  • These days physical therapists probably deal more with carpal tunnels.

    January 4, 2013