ENGLISH
REFERENCE

legged

adj.
US //ˈɫɛɡd// legged
  1. 1 having a specific number or type of legs (adj.)
    B1 Intermediate

    used with a number or a word to describe the legs of a person, animal, or piece of furniture.

    used in combination to form compound adjectives describing the quantity, quality, or appearance of legs.

    Example

    The children were fascinated by the eight-legged spider in the garden.

    Example

    The antique shop specialized in three-legged stools and other rustic furniture from the nineteenth century.

    Usage

    Almost always used as the second part of a hyphenated compound adjective, such as 'long-legged' or 'four-legged'.

    Pitfall
    It was a four-leg table.
    It was a four-legged table.

    When describing an object by the number of legs it has, use the '-legged' form as an adjective before the noun.

Etymology 1

From Middle English legged, leggyd, equivalent to leg (“noun”) + -ed.

Etymology 2

From leg (“verb”) + -ed.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026