ankle
Americannoun
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ankles
plural
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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.
-
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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
It makes the ankle joint stiffer and can improve stability when the foot contacts the ground.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Earlier, Jobe had grafted a tendon to a recovered polio patient’s ankle to provide stabilization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Last season he suffered separate calf and ankle problems that restricted him to 35 appearances in all competitions for Villa, the lowest number in a campaign during his time in England.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Sister Carren Herring asked as the Haitian man walked toward the field office, where he would reemerge from hours later with a GPS tracker clamped around an ankle.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
He stops rubbing his ankle for a moment and looks at me.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
On a beach in southern Romania, a few metres from the Danube shore, a boy sloshed his bare feet through water that only reached up to his ankles.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
In court on Monday, the pair wore light brown prison uniforms and were handcuffed and shackled at the waist and ankles.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
His hands and ankles were chained, and he was shipped off to Adelanto alongside a handful of other immigrants, all who were at least a decade older than him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Hyaline cartilage is smooth and slippery, allowing joints such as the knees, hips, shoulders, and ankles to move freely.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 12, 2026
My feet felt like clumps of ice at my ankles; two pairs of woolen socks provided a meager shield against this Montana cold.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
