Definition of "blackleg" [black•leg]

• An infectious, usually fatal bacterial disease of cattle and sometimes of sheep, goats, and swine, caused by Clostridium chauvoe and characterized by gas-containing swellings in the musculature. (noun)
• A bacterial or fungal disease of certain plants, such as the cabbage and potato, that causes the stems to turn black at the soil line. (noun)
• One who cheats at cards; a cardsharp. (noun)
• Chiefly British A worker who is opposed to trade unions; a scab. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One of their number stood out, refusing to join the combine; whereupon the rest summoned the gang and had the "blackleg" pressed for his contumacy."
• "BURNS -- who has stuck loyally to Council -- fiercely denounced as a "blackleg" by crowd."
• "He thinks I am a kind of blackleg, not true to my principles; or rather he thinks that I am not a Christian at all, and only call myself one for the sake of the associations."