"not have a leg to stand on" meaning in English

See not have a leg to stand on in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-not have a leg to stand on.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|verb}} not have a leg to stand on
  1. (idiomatic) To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: on one's last legs
    Sense id: en-not_have_a_leg_to_stand_on-en-verb-KYKRYGHs Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English negative polarity items, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
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        {
          "ref": "1857, Charles Dickens, chapter 8, in Little Dorrit, volume 2:",
          "text": "‘You see?’ said Mrs Gowan, turning the palms of her hands towards Mr Meagles, as if she were Justice herself, representing to him that he had better confess, for he had not a leg to stand on.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1910, Edith Wharton, “Afterward”, in Tales of Men and Ghosts:",
          "text": "\"But Mr. Elwell's lawyers apparently did not take your view, since I suppose the suit was withdrawn by their advice.\" \"Oh, yes, they knew he hadn't a leg to stand on.\"",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "1931, E. F. Benson, chapter 4, in Mapp and Lucia:",
          "text": "It was borne in upon Elizabeth that she hadn't got a leg to stand upon and she sat down.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2003 October 3, Charlie LeDuff, Dean E. Murphy, “The California Recall: Sexual Accusations Prompt an Apology By Schwarzenegger”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "If his word and image are consistently proven to be false, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.",
          "type": "quote"
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        "To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation."
      ],
      "id": "en-not_have_a_leg_to_stand_on-en-verb-KYKRYGHs",
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        [
          "lack",
          "lack"
        ],
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          "support",
          "support"
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          "argument",
          "argument"
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        [
          "debate",
          "debate"
        ],
        [
          "negotiation",
          "negotiation"
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        "(idiomatic) To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "on one's last legs"
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          "ref": "1857, Charles Dickens, chapter 8, in Little Dorrit, volume 2:",
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          "type": "quote"
        },
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          "ref": "1931, E. F. Benson, chapter 4, in Mapp and Lucia:",
          "text": "It was borne in upon Elizabeth that she hadn't got a leg to stand upon and she sat down.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 October 3, Charlie LeDuff, Dean E. Murphy, “The California Recall: Sexual Accusations Prompt an Apology By Schwarzenegger”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "If his word and image are consistently proven to be false, he doesn't have a leg to stand on.",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation."
      ],
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        [
          "lack",
          "lack"
        ],
        [
          "support",
          "support"
        ],
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        [
          "debate",
          "debate"
        ],
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          "negotiation",
          "negotiation"
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        "(idiomatic) To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation."
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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