As we have discussed, akimbo as as arm position, with hands on hips and elbows out. Can you speak of legs being akimbo? Not according to OED, whose definition is limited to arms.

That's no longer true. The New York Times of January 4, 2005 says, "The gecko's uncanny ability to scale virtually any surface, its body perfectly flat, legs akimbo, has been the focus of scientific attention for centuries, dating back to Aristotle." Other recent cites are:

• New Zealand Herald, Feb. 14, 2005: We watch flocks of clown-faced young puffins practising their ludicrous "legs akimbo" flight ...
• Daily Telegraph, Australia, Feb. 2, 2005: Newspapers, especially The Daily Mail which, with its coverage of drink, crime and immigration appears convinced that the world is about to end, have devoted page after page to photo spreads of women passed out, legs akimbo, on footpaths.
• New York Sun, Jan. 20, 2005: Two nudes disport themselves in an interior. One sits legs akimbo: She is a miracle of muscle.

Follow up: This link, valid only for the next three days, will take you to OED's definition of "akimbo".

If, after 3 days, you still want to read the OED about "akimbo," Tinman had copied the OED online definition in the first thread that wordnerd posted. I had revived it in November of 2004 precisely for this question! That definition doesn't mention "legs," though it does mention it meaning "high-horse" and "over-acting."

As Tinman had mentioned in that other thread, it is interesting to see how the spelling has changed. It started as "kenebowe."

quote:

Originally posted by wordnerd:
As we have discussed, akimbo as as arm position, with hands on hips and elbows out. Can you speak of legs being akimbo? Not according to OED, whose definition is limited to arms.

If you look at the second page of that discussion, near the bottom, you'll see that Kalleh had encountered "legs all akimbo" earlier:

quote:

Posted Nov 14, 7:57 PM (I don't know the year)
Today, I read a columnist talking about basketball players leaping with "legs all akimbo." I thought he was nuts, but when I looked up the word in MW, it does say: "set in a bent position <a tailor sitting with legs akimbo>."

So apparently it can be used for legs, too?

Tinman