jambe

noun

1. A leg, of an animal or person.

   “Lion's jambe, erased, grasping a laurel branch.”

   “[Image of a human leg in armor.] Crest - A jambe, unarmed, excepting the spur, quarterly, or and sa.”

   “If couped or erased at the middle joint, it is not a jambe but a paw, as in the example given under Seal, q.v. Or, a lion's jambe inverted and erased in bend gules—Powis. Gules, three lion's jambes erased and inverted argent—Newdigate, Surrey. Or, a lion's jambe inverted and erased in bend gules. Powis. Gules, three lion's jambes erased and inverted argent.”

   “... by the side of which is a pheasant, and at his feet there is a lion's jambe with the claws retracted.”

   ““Over all, on an escutcheon of the first, a jambe gules.” “A jambe gules erased,” said Sir Nigel, shaking his head solemnly. “Yet it is not amiss for a monkbred man. I trust that you are lowly and serviceable?””

2. (in-plural, often)Synonym of jambeau (“a greave”).

   “[…] cuissarts or cuisses were used to shield the thigh, and boots of steel called greaves or jambes were worn upon the leg between the ancle^([sic]) and the knee. We have no doubt that the jambes were found to act well as preserves, but we think at times the shin must have been sadly jammed in them.”

   “The spurs are of the goad-form, and the spur-straps are partially covered by the greaves or jambes, which are so formed as to protect the instep and ankle-joints, and are ornamented round the lower edges with a row of studs.”

   “Bainbergs were the precursors of the steel greaves or jambes of the fourteenth century.”