sea legs
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
He has got his sea legs. Is able to walk on deck when the ship is rolling; able to bear the motion of the ship without sea- sickness.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “sea legs” mean?
He has got his sea legs. Is able to walk on deck when the ship is rolling; able to bear the motion of the ship without sea- sickness.
Is “sea legs” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.