ankle
Americannoun
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(in humans) the joint between the foot and the leg, in which movement occurs in two planes.
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the corresponding joint in a quadruped or bird; hock.
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the slender part of the leg above the foot.
noun
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the joint connecting the leg and the foot See talus 1
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the part of the leg just above the foot
Etymology
Origin of ankle
First recorded before 1000; partly from Middle English ankel, enkel, ankyl, cognate with Middle Low German, Dutch enkel, Old Frisian ankel, Old High German anchal, enchil, Old Norse ǫkkul (from unrecorded ankula); partly from Middle English anclowe, oncleou, Old English anclēow, onclēow, cognate with Middle Low German anclef, Dutch anklāw, Old High German anchlāo; akin to Latin angulus “corner, angle,” Greek ankúlos “bent, crooked,” and ankṓn “bend of the arm, elbow”
Explanation
Your ankle connects your lower leg to your foot. The ankle is a joint that bends and swivels. The ankle is actually a fairly complicated part of your body, officially including three separate joints that make it possible to bend your legs, jump, run, and walk. The major bone in your ankle is called a talus, and it's the one at the very top of your foot. In Old English, it was ancleow, from a root word meaning "to bend," a root it shares with the word angle.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Because the accident left Eddie with a shattered ankle, the two spent the night telling stories in the frigid car until Daphne could find help in the morning.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026
Richards was included on the roster confirmed by the Athletic despite tearing two ligaments in his left ankle in Crystal Palace’s penultimate Premier League match with Brentford last weekend.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
A 2024 study in Bioengineering, for example, found that inward and outward foot rotation affected different peaks of knee loading, while not significantly increasing ankle joint moments in the group studied.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2026
When I was in Austria I was having physio every hour of the day I could get it, and I worked on my ankle as much as possible.
From BBC • May 21, 2026
He felt something wrong in his left leg, near the ankle, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
