axel

noun

ax·​el ˈak-səl  ˈäk- 

often capitalized

: a jump in figure skating from the outer forward edge of one skate with 1¹/₂ turns taken in the air and a return to the outer backward edge of the other skate

Examples of axel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, 24-year-old Amber Glenn won her first national women’s title, overcoming a couple of mistakes with a majestic triple axel to become the first openly LGBTQ+ athlete to win a U.S. women’s title. —USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2024

The 4-foot-11 14-year-old falls on her opening jump, a double axel, but lands six triple jumps, three in combination, in her program. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2024

So instead of just doing an axel, for example, he’s encouraged me to do an axel with both arms over my head. —Didi Gluck, Vogue, 7 Dec. 2023

Women traditionally did not attempt quads, which call for four full rotations in midair; their hardest jump was the triple axel, so risky that only three women—Midori Ito and Mao Asada of Japan, and Mirai Nagasu of the U.S.—had landed it successfully at the Olympics. —Joyce Rubin, Vogue, 15 Feb. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Axel Paulsen †1938 Norwegian figure skater

First Known Use

1930, in the meaning defined above

Biographical Definition

Axel

biographical name

Ax·​el ˈak-səl 

Richard 1946–     American biochemist