dogleg

dogleg

See also: dog-leg

English

WOTD – 31 July 2021

Alternative forms

• dog-leg

Etymology

A dogleg (sense 1) is something with a sharp bend or turn in it, like the distinctive shape of the hind leg of a dog.

A dogleg staircase (sense 1.1) in Mentmore Towers, Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.

Diagrams showing doglegs (sense 1.2) in holes in golf courses. The one on the left is called a dogleg left, and the other a dogleg right.

The standard warning sign for a dogleg intersection (sense 2) in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

The noun is derived from dog +‎ leg, referring to the shape of the hind leg of a dog.[1] The verb is derived from the noun.[2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒɡlɛɡ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɔɡˌlɛɡ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: dog‧leg

Noun

dogleg (plural doglegs)

1. (also attributively) Something (such as a canyon or road) with a sharp bend or turn in it.
   1. (architecture) A configuration of stairs where a flight ascends to a half-landing before turning 180 degrees and continuing upwards.
   2. (golf, disc golf) A sharp bend in the fairway before reaching a hole.
2. (US, also attributively) A single intersection consisting of two opposing T-junctions in close proximity; an intersection with a staggered cross street.
   • 1962 May 1, Carter, Arthur A., Jr., Increasing the Traffic-Carrying Capability of Urban Arterial Streets: The Wisconsin Avenue Study‎, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Public Roads, page 39:

     The Q Street crossing of Wisconsin Avenue is an extreme example of such a location, the dog-leg itself being so long, about 150 feet, that in reality two T intersections exist.

   • 2009 July 1, Gateway Boulevard Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement‎, Washington, D.C.: Federal Highway Administration, page 3-6:

     At 4th Avenue and Korean Veterans Boulevard, the completion of Gateway Boulevard would correct the existing dog-leg intersection with Franklin Street.

Synonyms

• (intersection consisting of two opposing T-intersections): staggered crossroads, staggered junction

Translations

something with a sharp bend or turn in it

Catalan: colzada f

configuration of stairs where a flight ascends to a half landing before turning 180 degrees and continuing upwards

(golf, disc golf) sharp bend in a fairway before reaching a hole

Catalan: colze (ca) m German: Dogleg n

See also

• hairpin
• offset T-intersection
• switchback

Verb

dogleg (third-person singular simple present doglegs, present participle doglegging, simple past and past participle doglegged)

1. (intransitive) To bend in the shape of the hind leg of a dog, especially to turn and then turn back sharply to the original direction.
   • 2004 August 30, The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: New Yorker Magazine Inc., ISSN 0028-792X, OCLC 243417341, page 48, column 2:

     When the causeway doglegs and all of a sudden you spot sixteen roller coasters in the same place, it can take your breath away.

Translations

to bend in the shape of the hind leg of a dog

References

1. “dogleg, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, November 2010; “dog-leg, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
2. “dogleg, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2012.

Further reading

• dog-leg (stairs) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dogleg (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• logged, oggled