leg up

noun

1
: a helping hand : boost
2

Examples of leg up in a Sentence

a key endorsement that would give the struggling candidate a real leg up right now
Recent Examples on the Web In his teen years, Wang shot, cut and edited numerous skateboard videos amongst others and uploaded them to YouTube — setting the stage and giving him an education leg up for his future career. Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024 Many in Congress are worried the Chinese government and military are using the rising dominance of national companies to gather Americans’ genetic information, which could be used for reasons that range from creating bioweapons to giving China a leg up in drug development. John Wilkerson, STAT, 6 Mar. 2024 Solvers needed a leg up, so the squad added Today’s Theme. Elie Levine, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Getting Discover, which also issues its own credit cards, under the same roof as Capital One would give the bank a major leg up against competing credit card-issuing banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C), which don’t process transactions themselves. Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 19 Feb. 2024 Just in case that gave Reba a leg up, don't let her sweet talk you. Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 28 Feb. 2024 In other snaps posted, Kourtney kicked her leg up in the air while sitting in the conservatory of the resort, as daughter Penelope, 11, walked with brother Reign down stone steps outdoors leading to the sea. Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 24 Feb. 2024 Those market trends are expected to help give homebuilders a leg up again this year, Wall Street analysts say. Alex Veiga, Quartz, 22 Feb. 2024 That first mover advantage has given Nvidia a big leg up over its competitors. Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leg up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of leg up was in 1871

Dictionary Entries Near leg up

Cite this Entry

“Leg up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leg%20up. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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