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
Photos shared by the City of Washington show crews hoisting pieces of the vehicle, including an axel, out of the creek earlier this month.
—Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024
The facility is the largest vehicle manufacturing plant globally for Toyota, producing the Toyota Camry, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES 350, and vehicle parts including four-cylinder and V-6 engines, axels, steering components, and more.
—The Courier-Journal, 6 Feb. 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
Following college, Brandi craved a new challenge and, in an interesting twist, swapped double axels for drop-toe holds to become a pro wrestler.
—Amy Wilkinson, Women's Health, 16 Aug. 2023
Michael Weiss, despite splattering on his quad lutz, two-footing a quad toe and not doing a triple axel the entire competition, gets his third U.S. men’s title.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2023
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
Photos shared by the City of Washington show crews hoisting pieces of the vehicle, including an axel, out of the creek earlier this month.
—Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024
The facility is the largest vehicle manufacturing plant globally for Toyota, producing the Toyota Camry, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus ES 350, and vehicle parts including four-cylinder and V-6 engines, axels, steering components, and more.
—The Courier-Journal, 6 Feb. 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
Following college, Brandi craved a new challenge and, in an interesting twist, swapped double axels for drop-toe holds to become a pro wrestler.
—Amy Wilkinson, Women's Health, 16 Aug. 2023
Michael Weiss, despite splattering on his quad lutz, two-footing a quad toe and not doing a triple axel the entire competition, gets his third U.S. men’s title.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'axel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Axel Paulsen †1938 Norwegian figure skater
First Known Use
1930, in the meaning defined above
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Dictionary Entries Near axel
Cite this Entry
“Axel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/axel. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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