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cross-legged

cross-legged

7 3.3
Sitting with one leg crossed over the other and knees bent outward
  • adverb
  • /ˈkrɔsˌlɛɡɪd/
translation icon : sentado con las piernas cruzadas
  • The children sat cross-legged on the mat during story time.
  • sit cross-legged

She sat cross legged in front of the fireplace with books and papers piled around her.

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Examples

  • I sat down cross-legged in the lee of a concrete wall and waited for the sun.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Matt sat up, too, and turned to sit cross-legged, facing him.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Okay, all the parents, come down and sit cross-legged next to your child, and we're going to do this.

    Academic text (2009)
  • A figure can be seen sitting cross-legged in front of the door.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • A man was sitting cross-legged by the side of the path, reading from a holy book.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Little Barn sat cross-legged on the living room floor, three feet from the TV.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Yet here she sat, cross-legged in her bed with an alarm clock in her lap.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • If seated on a bed, for example, students can sit in a more relaxed, cross-legged position if they like.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Hakim entered the chapel and sat cross-legged near the entrance.

    Academic text (2010)
  • She sat cross legged in front of the fireplace with books and papers piled around her.

How Cross-Legged

lotus position
  • Specialized
2 6.8
cross-legged
7 3.3
sitting
1.0

Surface Forms

cross-legged positive

Morphology

cross-legged = cross + leg (transparent) = cross + leg + ed

The meaning is directly inferable from 'cross' + 'leg' with the adjectival/past-participial suffix '-ed' indicating the position of the legs.

Etymology

Cross-legged comes from the parts cross, meaning 'across' or 'to make an X', and leg, meaning 'leg'. So imagine your legs making an X as you sit with one leg over the other, which is exactly what 'cross-legged' means.