Axel

¹ American  

[ak-suhl] / ˈæk səl /

noun

1. a first name.

---

axel ² American  

[ak-suhl] / ˈæk səl /

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.

---

axel British  

/ ˈæksəl /

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

---

Usage

What does axel mean? An axel is a maneuver in figure skating. The skater leaps from the front outside edge of one skate, rotates 1 ½ times, and lands on the rear outside edge of the other skate.The axel, also known as the axel jump, is considered the most difficult of the six jumps in figure skating. A tripleaxel, where a skater rotates 3 ½ times, has a starting value of 8 points at the Olympics, compared to the 3.3 points given for a double (2 ½ rotations) axel.Example: The judges were impressed by the skater’s axel and her perfect landing after completing the spin.

Etymology

Origin of axel

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

Example Sentences

She didn't disappoint, opening with a triple axel and powering through a bevy of triple jumps to top the free skate with a score of 150.50 points for a total of 233.55.

From Barron's

Only seven months after those Games, Ilia Malinin landed the world’s first quadruple axel in competition at 17 years old.

From Los Angeles Times

She was born in Massachusetts to Nigerian immigrants and, as a teen, was an exceptional figure skater: one who could land double axels with a practiced ease that betrayed the intense commitment behind them.

From Los Angeles Times

The recent World Figure Skating Championships produced exciting results, including a 19-year-old American landing a quadruple axel and a 40-year-old pairs skater who became the oldest woman to win a world figure skating championship.

From New York Times

The 29-year-old Brown, performing his “The Impossible Dream” program from last year, opened with two brilliant triple axels — one in sequence with a double — after missing the same jump during his short program.

From Seattle Times