have legs
English
WOTD – 24 April 2016
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
have legs (third-person singular simple present has legs, present participle having legs, simple past and past participle had legs)
- (idiomatic) To have endurance; to have prospects to exist or go on for a long time.
- 2007, Pete Williams, How to Turn Your Million Dollar Idea Into a Reality (from the Man who Sold the MCG), Milton, Qld.: Wrightbooks, →ISBN, page 68:
- Your plan will tell you if your idea has legs and is viable.
- 2011, Larry Garrison; Wallace Wang, Breaking Into Acting for Dummies, New York, N.Y.: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN:
- The longer a film plays (which, in show business terms, means that the film has legs), the more the theater gradually earns from ticket sales.
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- (nautical) To have speed.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have, legs.
Synonyms
- carry on
- endure
- hold up
Translations
to have endurance; to have prospects to exist or go on for a long time
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See also
- a lie has no legs
- die hard
- go a long way