α. 1800s– scissor-legged.
β. 1800s scissors-legged.
scissor-leggedadj.
/ˈsɪzəˌlɛɡ(ᵻ)d/, U.S. /ˈsɪzərˌlɛɡ(ə)d/ 1. Medicine. Designating the condition of having or walking with abnormally adducted legs (see scissor leg n. 1). Now rare.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > deformity > deformities of specific parts > [adjective] > of legs > having
leglessc1390
bow-legged1552
crook-legged1580
shackle-hammed1592
baker-kneed1611
baker-legged1611
buckle-hammed1629
out-shinned1682
bandy-legged1688
crooked-legged1691
shackled-ham'd1733
badger-legged1738
tailor-legged1768
knock-kneed1774
scissor-legged1880
1880 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 16 Oct. 646/2 Mr. Clement Lucas, ‘On Cross-Legged Progression (Scissor-Legged Deformity), the result of Double Hip Ankylosis’.
1892 Lancet 30 Jan. 257/2 Mr. Bernard Pitts showed a case to illustrate the After-treatment for Double Ankylosis of the Hip, or Scissors-legged Deformity.
1926 Cripples' Jrnl. 3 77 If the child comes to walk without surgical aid he develops a scissor-legged gait with flexed and adducted hips, bent knees and inpointed toes.
1949 Public Health 62 88/2 Photographs were shown of children..exhibiting the typical scissor-legged deformity.
2. Of an object: having crossed supports pivoted like the two halves of a pair of scissors.
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1916 H. A. Franck Tramping through Mexico x. 372 Scissor-legged [another ed. sissor-legged] canvas cots on which to toss out the night.
1967 D. Flakoll & C. Alegria tr. M. A. Asturias Cyclone ii. 22 The scissor-legged cot.
2001 P. Fox Borrowed Finery 87 The interior was filled up with scissor-legged wooden chairs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1880