Noun

(uncountable) Fatal cattle disease caused by the soil-borne bacteria Clostridium chauvoei ; symptomatic anthrax

(countable) A person who takes the place of striking workers. A scab.

*, chapter=22

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time.}}

(countable) A person who cheats in a game, a cheater.

*

*:I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg , card-sharper, and murderer.

(colloquial) A notorious gambler.

Noun

(en noun)

(archaic) A boy; especially, a boy servant.

(archaic) Any male servant; a menial.

A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person; a rogue; a villain.

*

*:I had never defrauded a man of a farthing, nor called him knave behind his back. But now the last rag that covered my nakedness had been torn from me. I was branded a blackleg, card-sharper, and murderer.

*1977 , (Geoffrey Chaucer), (The Canterbury Tales) , Penguin Classics, p. 204:

*:God's bones! Whenever I go to beat those knaves / my tapsters, out she [my wife] comes with clubs and staves, / "Go on!" she screams — and its a caterwaul — / "You kill those dogs! Break back and bones and all!"

(cards) A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or soldier; a jack.