1
: a sudden or violent twist or wrench of a joint with stretching or tearing of ligaments
2
: a sprained condition
sprained; spraining; sprains
: to injure by a sudden or severe twist
Examples of sprain in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Kansas City Star, 4 Dec. 2025
Obvious cases such as cuts and sprains were marked as certain.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 4 Dec. 2025
Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 3 Dec. 2025
New Balance DynaSoft Nergize Sport V2 Sneaker Once, on a trip to Lisbon, my mom slightly sprained her ankle tackling the city’s hills.
—Nneya Richards, Travel + Leisure, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sprain
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Noun
Right guard Trey Smith, out last week due to an ankle sprain, also sat out Wednesday.
—Kansas City Star, 4 Dec. 2025
Obvious cases such as cuts and sprains were marked as certain.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 4 Dec. 2025
Verb
Tillman couldn’t crack the rotation when starting center Neemias Queta sprained his ankle in a win over the Magic, or when Queta sat out for the first time this season three nights later.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 3 Dec. 2025
New Balance DynaSoft Nergize Sport V2 Sneaker Once, on a trip to Lisbon, my mom slightly sprained her ankle tackling the city’s hills.
—Nneya Richards, Travel + Leisure, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sprain
Cite this Entry
“Sprain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sprain. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
sprain
1 of 2 noun1
: a sudden or severe twisting of a joint with stretching or tearing of ligaments
2
: a condition that results from a sprain and is usually marked by pain and swelling
sprain
2 of 2 verb
: to injure by a sudden or severe twist
Medical Definition
sprain
1 of 2 noun
: a sudden or violent twist or wrench of a joint causing the stretching or tearing of ligaments and often rupture of blood vessels with hemorrhage into the tissues
also
: the condition resulting from a sprain that is usually marked by swelling, inflammation, hemorrhage, and discoloration compare strain entry 3 sense b
sprain
2 of 2 transitive verb
: to weaken (a joint or ligament) by sudden and violent twisting or wrenching : stretch (ligaments) injuriously without dislocation of the joint
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