sea legs

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralinformal

   The ability to walk steadily on a moving ship and avoid feeling sick from the motion.

   Grammar: Always plural with a verb like get or find: he found his sea legs.

   Patterns

   • get your sea legs
   • find your sea legs

   It took the passengers a day to get their sea legs in the rough water.

   After two days at sea, I finally had my sea legs.

   Don't worry if you feel dizzy at first; you'll find your sea legs soon.

2. 2nounpluralfigurativeinformal

   The confidence or skill gained when adjusting to an unfamiliar situation.

   Grammar: Used figuratively, usually with get: she is still getting her sea legs in the new job.

   Patterns

   • get your sea legs in something

   She is still finding her sea legs in her new role.

   The young player needs a few games to get his sea legs.

   Give the new manager time to find her sea legs.

Common combinations

get your sea legs

You'll get your sea legs after a day or two.

find your sea legs

The new intern is still finding her sea legs.

lose your sea legs

After weeks on land, he lost his sea legs.

gain sea legs

The crew helped the beginners gain their sea legs.

wobbly sea legs

He stumbled ashore on wobbly sea legs.

Synonyms and how they differ

balance

Balance is a general ability, while sea legs refers only to steadiness gained from experience on a moving vessel.

bearings

In the figurative sense, bearings means a sense of where you are, while sea legs stresses growing confidence over time.

adjust

Adjust is a verb and is neutral, whereas sea legs is a plural noun that sounds more colorful.

Word family

seasick adjective

feeling sick because of a ship's motion

seasickness noun

nausea caused by travel at sea

seaman noun

a sailor

Commonly confused: sea legs or land legs?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “sea legs”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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