leglessnessn.
/ˈlɛɡləsnəs/, U.S. /ˈlɛɡləsnəs/ The fact or quality of being legless (in various senses). In later use esp.: the state of being extremely drunk; cf. legless adj. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [noun] > state of having no
stamp1567
leglessness1849
1849 C. Darwin Let. 1 Nov. in Corr. (1988) IV. 276 Pray give my best thanks to Lady Lyell for her translation which was as clear as daylight to me, including ‘leglessness’.
1881 Eclectic Med. Jrnl. 41 454 They [sc. animals of a reptilian character] have four limbs to walk upon, though in specialized instances, as in snakes, no legs are developed, or, to express leglessness in another form, limbs are dwarfed or suppressed.
1902 19th Cent. Feb. 254 There was an Irish member of parliament who had neither legs nor arms... Sir Richard Calmady's leglessness is never for an instant forgotten.
1984 Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 15 Jan. 22 The week-long period of leglessness traditionally associated with the arrival of New Year.
1994 N. G. Hairston Vertebr. Zool. i. 39 Leglessness raises the question of an interesting trend among lizards.
2005 Guardian (Nexis) 16 July (Weekend Suppl.) 28 The dangerous hour between sobriety and leglessness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1849