make a leg

present singular third person makes a leg · participle present making a leg · participle past made a leg · past made a leg

1. UKidiomaticTo make a deep bow with the right leg drawn back.

   "Father, return thanks; make a leg—no man can do it better. Master Mordacks, you shall have our utmost duty."

   1880, R. D. Blackmore, chapter 26, in Mary Anerley: A Yorkshire Tale

   2 more examples

   King Richard II: What must the king do now? must he submit? […] What says King Bolingbroke? will his majesty Give Richard leave to live till Richard die? You make a leg, and Bolingbroke says ay.

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act 3, scene 3]

   "I beg pardon," said Mr. Datchery, making a leg with his hat under his arm, as he addressed himself equally to both gentlemen.

   1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, chapter 18, in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC

   Synonyms: bow and scrape