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Legs

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On his legs. Mr. So-and-So is on his legs, has risen to make a speech.

On its last legs. Moribund; obsolete; ready to fall out of cognisance.

To set on his legs. So to provide for one that he is able to earn his living without further help.

To stand on one’s own legs. To be independent: to be earning one’s own living. Of course, the allusion is to being nursed, and standing “alone.” (See Bottom.)

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Lefevre
Left
Left-handed Compliment (A)
Left-handed Marriage
Left-handed Oath (A)
Left in the Lurch
Leg (A)
Leg-bail
Leg-bye (A)
Leg of Mutton School (The)
Legs
Legal Tender (A)
Legem Pone
Legend
Legend of a Coin
Legenda Aurea
Leger
Leger-de-Main
Legion
Legion of Honour
Legislator or Solon of Parnassus