duck-legged

American  

[duhk-leg-id, -legd] / ˈdʌkˌlɛg ɪd, -ˌlɛgd /

adjective

1. having legs that are unusually short.

   He crept up in a half-crouch that made him look duck-legged.

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Etymology

Origin of duck-legged

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

Think of a stoutish, stooping, duck-legged man, with a mountainous back, strongly suggestive of a bag of grist under his shirt, and you have him.

From The Man Who Stole A Meeting-House 1878, From "Coupon Bonds" by Trowbridge, J. T. (John Townsend)

We may picture him as a humid duck-legged little man, most terribly homesick, most tremendously lonely, most distressingly alien.

From From Place to Place by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)

These were an excessively duck-legged animal, with well-formed bodies, full chest, broad backs, yielding a close heavy fleece of medium quality of wool.

From Domestic Animals History and description of the horse, mule, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and farm dogs; with directions for their management, breeding, crossing, rearing, feeding, and preparation for a profitable market; also their diseases and remedies. Together with full directions for the management of the dairy. by Allen, Richard L.

"That's just because you're a duck-legged snipe," answered Gid wrathfully.

From Si Klegg, Book 5 (of 6) The Deacon's Adventures At Chattanooga In Caring For The Boys by McElroy, John

"We didn't know you were aboard," said Mrs. Waterbury, a silly, duck-legged woman looking proudly uncomfortable in her bead-trimmed black silk.

From Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise by Phillips, David Graham