bow leg
- noun
- /boʊ lɛg/
:
piernas arqueadas
- The child had to wear special braces because he suffered from bow leg, which made his knees stay apart when he stood.
Examples
-
Often a boy comes in now, a rickety boy with bowed legs, holding a bowl of thin milk in his translucent hands, the bowl held gingerly so as not to spill.
Fiction book (1999) -
He chanted and shouted at the top of his lungs, kicking his bowed legs out and leaping in the air over and over until he fell to the ground exhausted.
Fiction book (1999) -
Doctors recommend physical therapy for children diagnosed with bow leg to help correct the curvature in their legs.
-
Parents often worry about their child's bow leg, especially if they notice their legs are curved outward at the knees.
Synonyms
1
8.8
A leg that curves outward at or below the knee
1
7.2
A leg that curves outward at the knee so the knees stay apart when standing with feet together
Legs that curve outward at the knees so the knees stay apart when the feet are together
Legs that curve outward at the knees so the feet and ankles touch while the knees are apart
Legs that curve outward at the knees, leaving a space between the lower legs
The lower leg bows outward below the knee
Legs that curve outward at the knees and look bowed
A leg that bends outward below the knee so the knees are far apart
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is directly compositional: 'bow' (a bend/arc) + 'leg' (a limb) yields a leg that is bent outward, which matches the provided definition. This follows common English compounding patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun bow leg comes from how the legs look: they bend outward like a bow, so the knees stay apart when the feet are together. That's why the phrase means 'a condition where the legs curve outward'.