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Webster's New World College Dictionary » blackleg
blackleg
blackleg definition
black·leg (-leg′)
noun
- an acute, usually fatal, infectious disease of young cattle and sheep, caused by a bacterium (esp. Clostridium chauvoei) and characterized by swelling and blackening of infected muscle tissue
- a disease of beets and related plants caused by a fungus (Phoma betae)
- a disease of potatoes caused by a bacterium (Erwinia atroseptica)
- Informal a gambler who cheats
- Brit. a strikebreaker
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