land legs

plural noun

1. the ability to adjust one's sense of balance and motion to walking on land, as after a sea journey or flight:

   It took the astronauts some time to regain their land legs after the long space mission.

Word History and Origins

Origin of land legs¹

First recorded in 1870–75; on the model of sea legs

Example Sentences

Neither of us have got our land legs yet, as we found yesterday while fighting the penguins.

From Project Gutenberg

Stamping the length of the dock to regain his land legs, he returned to meet Doctor Merchant, who had hastened down to the dock.

From Project Gutenberg

And then he goes for a spell to sea—for after all, he needs sea legs as well as land legs.

From Project Gutenberg

Stryker, awkward on his land-legs, stumbled and fell in an ill-calculated attempt to hoist himself hastily back into the vehicle.

From Project Gutenberg

But it did not take him long to recover his land legs and appetite.

From Project Gutenberg