gammy

adjective

gam·​my ˈga-mē 

British

: being a body part and especially a limb that is usually permanently impaired in function : game

a gammy leg

Examples of gammy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And not just any old specimen with a wispy beard and a gammy leg; one fit to be declared the finest in all of Scotland. —The Economist, 27 June 2020

Word History

Etymology

of uncertain origin

Note: A connection with game entry 4 is not well-motivated derivationally or phonetically. Also compared with regional French gambi, cambi "lame, bow-legged," though the late date of the word does not favor borrowing from such a source. The use of the word in English dialects to mean "clumsy" or "left-handed" (Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, also gammy-handed) suggests that a word of different origin and meaning may have been influenced by game entry 4.

First Known Use

1861, in the meaning defined above