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

Youngest brother LaMelo Ball was an All-Star in his second season with the Charlotte Hornets but has only played a total of 58 games in the two seasons since because of multiple ankle injuries. —Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

Such has been the extent of his injuries, the 15-time major champion has switched to FootJoy shoes for additional ankle support. —Ben Morse, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024

Meanwhile, Reese entered the third quarter with a new pair of shoes, possibly to help alleviate the ankle pain. —Rudy Chinchilla, NBC News, 2 Apr. 2024

In January, on the eve of Australia Day, an antipodean version of the Fourth of July, a bronze statue of Cook that had stood in Melbourne for more than a century was sawed off at the ankles. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

On March 8 in Los Angeles, the Lakers pulled off a mild upset against the Bucks, beating them as LeBron James missed the game with his sore ankle. —Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024

Martin and Jaime Jaquez Jr. were both listed as questionable; both have ankle injuries combined with knee discomfort. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 23 Mar. 2024

So was one by Trammell at the halftime buzzer, with the Aztecs scuffling along to maybe their worst 20 minutes of the season despite Kalib Boone, UNLV’s best rebounder, playing only 59 seconds on a sprained ankle before shutting it down. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024

Without any extra brace or wrap on his sprained right ankle, Curry did it all. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2024

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)