Have you ever wondered what the expression “without hind legs"? When is it used and what does it mean?
The phraseological phrase “sleep without hind legs” means a very sound sleep due to incredible fatigue. If a person or animal is so overtired that he cannot wake up quickly, or is fast asleep, then this is the phrase they say. Moreover, if for an animal it is understood that it is physical fatigue, then in the case of a person the expression is used to mean any fatigue - intellectual, emotional or physical.
Where did the expression come from?
Many stable expressions appeared while observing animals. Their habits often served as the basis for comparisons. So in this case, the phrase appeared due to the peculiarities of sleep in horses.
When a horse gets very tired, he falls off his feet, while his hind legs relax so much that after waking up from sleep, he can only stand up on his front legs, and his hind legs do not obey for some time. It will take time for the horse to be able to stand on its hind legs. This is where the expression came from: sleeping soundly because you are so tired that you can’t even get up on your feet.
Now you know what the expression “without hind legs” means. The original meaning literally means "to sleep without moving from fatigue." But now little has changed - the phrase still means sound sleep against a background of extreme fatigue.
WITHOUT HIND LEGS (SLEEP)
very strong, unwavering. The expression arose from observations of animals: after work, the horse lies down and sleeps, completely relaxing its hind legs; if you try to lift her, she will stand on her front legs, and her hind legs will not obey her. Initially, the phrase meant “to sleep without moving from fatigue.”
Handbook of phraseology. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is WITHOUT HIND LEGS (SLEEP) in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- WITHOUT in the Dictionary of Economic Terms:
PACKING" - a delivery condition under which the movement of goods is carried out in bulk, in bulk, without ... - SLEEP in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, sleep, sleep; slept, slept, slept;nesov. 1. Be in a state of sleep (1 digit). Strongly with. S. it’s time (time to go to bed... - WITHOUT in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
someone or something, preposition with gender 1. Indicates lack, lack, absence of someone. B. money. B. friends. Leave a letter b. answer, B... - WITHOUT in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
"WITHOUT CAPTION", weekly, St. Petersburg, January - May 1906 (16 issues). Published by a group of left-liberal publicists. Ed. S.N. Prokopovich, ed. E.D. Kuskova. Employees: … - SLEEP in the Complete Accented Paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep those sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, ... - WITHOUT in the Thesaurus of Russian Business Vocabulary:
Syn: ... - WITHOUT in the Russian Language Thesaurus:
Syn: ... - SLEEP
(fall asleep, fall asleep, fall asleep), doze (take a nap), rest, rest, snore (snore); tend to sleep, nod off; (colloquial) to sleep; (poet.) lie in the arms... - WITHOUT- in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
see deprive, ... - WITHOUT in Abramov's Dictionary of Synonyms:
deprived of anything. Prot. ... - LEG in the Russian Synonyms dictionary:
griffin, inog, ... - WITHOUT in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language.
- SLEEP
- WITHOUT- in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
1. prefix (as well as non-) A word-forming unit that forms nouns with the meaning of the absence of something or the opposite of what is called motivating... - WITHOUT in the New Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
preposition (as well as without) with gender. pad. Usage when indicating: 1) the absence of someone or something; 2) restriction of someone, something; except, … - WITHOUT in Lopatin’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
without and without... - SLEEP
sleep, sleep, sleep; past slept, slept,... - WITHOUT in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
without, … - SLEEP in the Spelling Dictionary:
sleep, sleep, sleep; past slept, slept, ... - WITHOUT in the Spelling Dictionary:
without and without... - SLEEP
Colloq to be in sexual relations S. with someone else's wife. sleep disapproved to be inactive, lethargic It was necessary not to s., but ... - WITHOUT... in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
Forms nouns with meaning. absence of something + treelessness, windlessness, moonlessness, indifference, lack of beginning. without... Forms adjectives with meaning. not having something... - WITHOUT in Ozhegov’s Dictionary of the Russian Language:
in the absence of someone something Bored b. friend. B. signal not to start. without Indicates lack, lack, absence of someone something + B. money. ... - SLEEP in Dahl's Dictionary:
fall asleep, fall asleep, fall asleep, be in a dream, rest having fallen asleep, rest; opposite watch, stay awake, sit down. live. I didn't sleep on the feather beds. ... - WITHOUT in Dahl's Dictionary:
without preposition , managerial family and meaning: absence, lack; together does not change in the ending, does not require case and expresses that... - SLEEP
sleeping, sleeping, doctor of science no, past slept, slept, slept, carried. 1. Be in a state of sleep (see sleep in 1 value). ... - WITHOUT in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
see also (bez) and (bes). Prefix used for education: 1) adj. from noun, in meaning deprived of something, lacking something, ... - WITHOUT in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
distant words - see distant. to take a word - to believe, fully relying on an oral promise. In one word (colloquial) - ... - WITHOUT in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
(without stress, except in those cases when the stress is transferred from the noun to the preposition, for example, without meaning, without salt) and without (see), ... - SLEEP
nesov. nepereh. 1) a) To be, to be in a state of sleep. b) transfer Be in a state of complete peace and stillness. c) transfer Rest in peace... - WITHOUT- in Ephraim's Explanatory Dictionary:
1. prefix (as well as non-) A word-forming unit that forms nouns with the meaning of the absence of something or the opposite of what is named... - WITHOUT in Ephraim's Explanatory Dictionary:
preposition (as well as without) with gender. pad. Usage when indicating: 1) the absence of someone or something; 2) restriction of someone, something; ... - SLEEP
nesov. nepereh. 1. To be, to be in a state of sleep. Ott. trans. Be in a state of complete peace and stillness. Ott. trans. Rest (about... - WITHOUT- in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
I prefix; - non- Word-forming unit that forms nouns with the meaning of the absence of something or the opposite of what is called by the motivating name... - WITHOUT in the New Dictionary of the Russian Language by Efremova:
sentence; from birth; - bezo Used to indicate 1) the absence of someone, something 2) the restriction of someone, something; except, not... - SLEEP
nesov. nepereh. 1. To be, to be in a state of sleep. Ott. trans. Be in a state of complete peace and stillness. Ott. trans. Rest in peace (... - WITHOUT- in the Large Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
I prefix; = bez-, = bes- A word-forming unit that forms nouns with the meaning of the absence of something or the opposite of that... - WITHOUT in the Large Modern Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language:
sentence since birth ; = without 1. Used to indicate the absence of someone or something. 2. Used when indicating... - RUSSIAN PROVERBS in Quote Wiki.
- EXTERIOR
- BIRDS
(Aves). Contents of the article: Characteristics. - Covers and feathers. - Skeleton and musculature. — Nervous system and sense organs. - Organs... - WASHING THE FEET in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
in the East, since ancient times, the duty of hospitality is extended to guests by the owner of the house personally or through servants (see, for example, Gen., XVIII, 4; ... - HORSE in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron.
- DECAPEDALS in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
- EXTERIOR* in the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron.
- BIRDS*
(Aves). Contents of the article: Characteristics. ? Covers and feathers. ? Skeleton and musculature. ? Nervous system and sensory organs. ? ... - WASHING THE FEET in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
? in the East, since ancient times, the duty of hospitality is extended to guests by the owner of the house personally or through servants (see, for example, Gen., XVIII, ... - DECAPEDALS in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia:
(Decapoda, see table), an order of crustaceans from the group of shield-thorax, or stalked-eyed (Thoracostraca s. Podophthalmata), constitute a very large (about 2000 species) group ...
Without hind legs
(sleep) very soundly, soundly. The expression arose from observations of animals: after work, the horse lies down and sleeps, completely relaxing its hind legs; if you try to lift her, she will stand on her front legs, and her hind legs will not obey her. Initially, the phrase meant “to sleep without moving from fatigue.”
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Sleep without hind legs Sleep WITHOUT HIND LEGS. Razg. Express Very soundly, soundly (sleep). The guy is damn exhausted: he’s probably sleeping without his hind legs(A. Perventsev. Honor from a young age).
Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST.
A. I. Fedorov.
2008. See what “Sleep without hind legs” is in other dictionaries: without hind legs
2008.- sleep without hind legs, sleep without hind legs... Dictionary of Russian Idioms
- (sleep) very soundly, soundly. The expression arose from observations of animals: after work, the horse lies down and sleeps, completely relaxing its hind legs; if you try to lift her, she will stand on her front legs, but her back legs will not... ...- 1. who to be; return, come Unable to move from overwork. This means that a person or group of people (X) experiences an extreme degree of fatigue, usually after standing for a long time, repeatedly or for a long time... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language
without hind legs, sleep- very strong, unwavering. The expression arose from observations of animals: after work, the horse lies down and sleeps, completely relaxing its hind legs; if you try to lift her, she will stand on her front legs, and her hind legs will not obey her... Phraseology Guide
Without hind legs- Razg. Joking. Soundly, soundly (sleep). BMS 1998, 404; BTS, 320, 286; ZS 1996, 174; FSRY, 281 ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings
sleep without hind legs- Sleep very soundly, soundly... Dictionary of many expressions
sleep- (fall asleep, fall asleep, fall asleep), doze (take a nap), rest, rest, snore (snore); tend to sleep, nod off; (colloquial) to sleep; (poet.) lie in the arms of Morpheus. Go to bed, go to sleep, go to the side, leave... ... Synonym dictionary
sleep soundly- ▲ sleep (in) a high degree of sleep without hind legs. asleep [fell asleep. fell asleep] like the dead. sleep: sound. deep. dead. dead. heroic. unawakening. restless (sleep # sleep). sleepless. without waking up. sweet Dreams. sleep sweetly. sleep… … Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language
sleep- sleeping, sleeping; slept, slept/, spa/lo; sleeping; nsv. see also sleeping, sleeping, sleeping 1) a) To be in a state of sleep. Go to bed. Stay up all night... Dictionary of many expressions
sleep- verb., nsv., used. max. often Morphology: I am sleeping, you are sleeping, he/she/it is sleeping, we are sleeping, you are sleeping, they are sleeping, sleep, sleep, slept, slept, slept, slept, sleeping, slept 1. If someone is sleeping, then this means that this person is in a state of sleep... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary