legging

Pluralleggings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   Stretchy, tight-fitting pants worn close against the legs, often by women or for exercise.

   The new legging design includes a hidden waistband pocket.

   Many runners prefer leggings to loose shorts in cold weather.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A protective covering, usually leather, worn over the lower leg from knee to ankle.

   The trapper laced his leggings tight against the cold and thorns.

   Each legging buckled at the side to keep mud off his pants.

   Similargaiter

   Note

   A word built plainly from leg and -ing for something worn on the leg: a separate covering for each lower leg, usually leather, laced or buckled in place. One is a legging, and the pair are leggings. The same plural also names stretchy close-fitting pants, so in older or outdoor writing, context has to tell the reader which garment is meant.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   Either of the tubular sections of a pair of pants that encloses a single leg.

   The mechanic wiped his hands on one legging out of habit.

   Both leggings were caked with grease after the long shift.

   Similarleg

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of leg.

   The kids were legging it home before the storm hit.

   She kept legging it up the stairs two at a time.

   Note

   Here the -ing belongs to the verb leg, and it shares its spelling with the nouns, from the knee-to-ankle covering to the options trader's term. As a gerund it can head a noun phrase, as in legging a carcass or legging a horse. In casual speech it turns up in legging it, meaning to go somewhere fast on foot.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   In options trading, the process of entering a position made of three or more separate option strikes, one trade at a time.

   The legging of the iron condor exposed him to price swings between fills.

   She favored legging into the spread to capture better prices on each strike.

   Note

   Options traders take the noun from the verb leg, which means putting on a position strike by strike. Rather than entering a three-strike position as one combined order, the trader builds it through separate trades. The cost is execution risk, because prices can move between fills. The reward is a chance at better prices on each piece. Traders speak of legging into a position.

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