ankle

noun

an·​kle ˈaŋ-kəl 

1

: the joint between the foot and the leg

also : the region of this joint

2

: the joint between the cannon bone and pastern (as in the horse)

Examples of ankle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Kawhi Leonard, arguably the NBA’s best player over the past three months, sprained his left ankle in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s loss to the Sacramento Kings. —Janis Carr, Oc Register, 16 Mar. 2026

Brandin Podziemski scored 25 and Gui Santos had 22, while Quinten Post returned from a sore ankle to score 20. —Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2026

For the occasion, my mother had put on her Balenciaga, a black dress with two wide shoulder straps, a firm bodice, a full skirt that ended a few inches above the ankles, and the illusion of an underskirt supplied by a band of taffeta ruffles, also black, that peeked out from beneath the hem. —Han Ong, New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2026

Maximo Adams, one of the best players on the Sierra Canyon boys basketball team, suffered an ankle injury five minutes into the first quarter of the CIF State Open Division championship game Saturday night against Salesian. —Steve Fryer, Daily News, 15 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ancle, ankill, perhaps going back to an unattested Old English outcome of Germanic *ankula- (whence Old Frisian & Middle Dutch ankel "ankle," Old High German anchal) alongside *ankila- (whence 16th-century Dutch enckel "ankle," Middle Low German enkel, Old High German enchil) and *ankilōn-, *ankulōn- (whence Old High German anchla, anchala, anchila "ankle," Old Norse ǫkkla), diminutive of a base seen in *ankjōn- (whence Old High German ancha, anca "limb, nape of the neck," Old Norse ekkja "heel"), of uncertain origin

Note: Middle English ancle is often presumed to have been borrowed from a Scandinavian predecessor (with a preserved nasal consonant) of the Norse etymon attested as ǫkkla in Old Icelandic. Complicating the already complex mixture of forms given above are Middle English anclee, anclowe and their modern dialect descendants such as ancliff, ankley, which go back to Old English anclēow, anclēowe "ankle," cognate with Old Frisian onklef, anklef, Middle Dutch anclau, anclief, Old High German anchlao; these appear to show conflation with the outcomes of Germanic *klawō- "claw" (as Old English clawu, clēa "claw, hoof"; see claw entry 1). Germanic *ankula- is usually further identified with Indo-European *h₂eng-(e)lo- (see angle entry 1), though the etymon could equally well be derived within Germanic from the base *ank- seen in Old High German ancha. The latter has been connected with Sanskrit áṅgam "limb, member" and aṅgúliḥ, aṅgúriḥ "finger, toe," which appears to have suffixation similar to Germanic *ankula-.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing ankle

• ankle-biter
• ankle sock

Kids Definition

ankle

noun

an·​kle ˈaŋ-kəl 

: the joint between the foot and the leg

also : the region of this joint

Medical Definition

ankle

noun

an·​kle ˈaŋ-kəl 

1

a

: the joint between the foot and the leg that constitutes in humans a ginglymus joint between the tibia and fibula above and the talus below

called also ankle joint

b

: the region of the ankle joint

2

: the joint between the cannon bone and pastern (as in the horse)