[ˈblaklɛɡ], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a person who continues working when fellow workers are on strike; a strike-breaker
(e.g: the blacklegs who had arrived by rail were harassed by crowds of workers)

- an acute infectious bacterial disease of cattle and sheep, causing necrosis in one or more legs

- any of a number of plant diseases in which part of the stem blackens and decays


Phrases:

Origin:
early 18th century (in the sense ‘infectious disease of cattle and sheep’): from black + leg. The sense ‘strike-breaker’ dates from the mid 19th century; it may derive from an earlier sense ‘swindler, cheat’, with possible comparison to a crow or rook, black birds regarded as having thieving habits

[ˈblaklɛɡ], (Verb)

Definitions:
- continue working when one's fellow workers are on strike


Phrases:

Origin:
early 18th century (in the sense ‘infectious disease of cattle and sheep’): from black + leg. The sense ‘strike-breaker’ dates from the mid 19th century; it may derive from an earlier sense ‘swindler, cheat’, with possible comparison to a crow or rook, black birds regarded as having thieving habits