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definitions

axel

[ak-suh l]
noun Figure Skating.
  1. a jump performed by a skater leaping from the front outer edge of one skate into the air to make 1½ rotations of the body and landing on the back outer edge of the other skate.

Origin of axel

First recorded in 1925–30; after Axel Paulsen (1855–1938), Norwegian figure skater, who popularized the maneuver
Can be confusedaxel axle

Axel

[ak-suh l]
noun
  1. a male given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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British Dictionary definitions for axel

axel

noun
  1. skating a jump in which the skater takes off from the forward outside edge of one skate, makes one and a half, two and a half, or three and a half turns in the air, and lands on the backward outside edge of the other skate

Word Origin for axel

C20: named after Axel Paulsen (died 1938), Norwegian skater
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for axel
n.

skating jump, 1930, named for Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen (1855-1938).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper