sea legs, n. pl. jocular.
[Cf. F. avoir le pied marin.]
In phrases, to have or get one's sea legs on, to find one's sea legs, to have or acquire the power of walking steadily on the deck of a ship. Also fig.
| 1712 W. Rogers Voy. round World 8 They had..got their Sea-Legs. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast ii, In addition to all this, I had not got my ‘sea legs on’. 1895 Lloyd George Let. 27 Mar. (1973) 83, I have got my sea legs in the House. They now listen to me with deference. 1898 Baring-Gould Old Eng. Home xii. 286, I have been..a seaman for fifteen years, and have never yet found my sea-legs. 1977 Rolling Stone 7 Apr. 78/3 Sailin', then, is a solid album by a promising singer/songwriter who is still finding her sea legs. |
Hence sea-legged a.
| 1913 W. de la Mare Peacock Pie 109 Here is a sea-legged sailor. 1946 Dylan Thomas Deaths & Entrances 55 Goodbye to the man on the sea-legged deck. |