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Fine Dictionary

blackleg

WordNet
  1. (v) blackleg
    take the place of work of someone on strike
  2. (n) blackleg
    someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
  1. Blackleg
    A disease among calves and sheep, characterized by a settling of gelatinous matter in the legs, and sometimes in the neck.
  2. Blackleg
    A notorious gambler.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) blackleg
    A disease in cattle and sheep which affects the legs; symptomatic anthrax. See anthrax.
  2. (n) blackleg
    A severe form of purpura.
  3. (n) blackleg
    One who systematically tries to gain money fraudulently in connection with races, or with cards, billiards, or other games; a rook; a swindler. The term implies the habitual frequenting of places where wagers are made and games of chance are played, and the seeking of subsistence by dishonorable betting, but does not always imply direct cheating. Sometimes contracted to leg.
  4. (n) blackleg
    Same as black-nob.
  5. (n) blackleg
    A laborer who is not a member of a trade-gild or trade-union; a ‘scab.’
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. Blackleg
    a low, gambling fellow: a turf-swindler: a term applied by strikers to men willing to work for the wages against which themselves have struck—also Black′-neb
Etymology

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary A.S. blac, blæc, black.

Usage in the news

A blacklegged tick is shown next to a penny. toledoblade.com

The two species of ticks most common to the region are the American dog tick and the blacklegged or deer tick . riverreporter.com

Blacklegged ticks , or Deer ticks , are found predominately in deciduous forest, and both nymph and adult stages (all shown here) transmit diseases such as Lyme disease, Babesiosis and Anaplasmosis. forconstructionpros.com

Both are transmitted by blacklegged ticks or deer ticks . brainerddispatch.com

Usage in literature

The nobility and gentry, as well as the blacklegs and swindlers of all the nations of Europe, gather there. "Down the Rhine" by Oliver Optic

I'd never hear the last of it if I was to be a blackleg. "Lady Bountiful" by George A. Birmingham

Whilst "Unionist" is foiled by "Blackleg" brother, Labour fights Capital with limbs half shackled. "Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 104, April 29, 1893" by Various

She was putting him on the plane of a blackleg. "Blow The Man Down" by Holman Day

He already knows his rival to be a blackguard; in all likelihood he is also a blackleg. "The Flag of Distress" by Mayne Reid

And oh the raffish counts and more than doubtful countesses, the noodles and the blacklegs, the good society! "The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete" by John Forster

And are you yet with blacklegs fain With loaded dice to throw a main? "Fables of John Gay" by John Gay

Dance, you lazy blacklegs; dance on nothing! "The Iron Pirate" by Max Pemberton

Randolph had called Clay a 'Blackleg' in a speech. "A Portrait of Old George Town" by Grace Dunlop Ecker

Most of these seemed as eager for the race as an English blackleg for the Derby. "The Quadroon" by Mayne Reid

Usage in poetry
I don't know that the old boss can.
I've heard he's pushed to make ends meet.
To me he's been a fair, straight man
That pays up well an' works a treat.
But if I don't get in this game,
Well, "blackleg" ain't a pretty name.