What does Lutz mean? The Lutz is a figure skating jump in which the skater jumps from the back outside edge of one skate, rotates (at least once) in the air, and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate. It is sometimes spelled uncapitalized, as lutz. The jump can be performed with multiple rotations, resulting in a double Lutz (two rotations), triple Lutz (three rotations), or quad (or quadruple) Lutz (four rotations). The Lutz is one of the six recognized jumps in competitive figure skating. Because it is done with the use of the skate’s toe-pick, it is classified as a toe jump (along with the toe loop and flip; the loop, Salchow, and axel are classified as edge jumps). The Lutz is considered one of the most difficult jumps to perform. Example: To the casual viewer, the Lutz and Salchow may look similar, but they require much different techniques.
First recorded in 1935–40; after Alois Lutz (1898-1918), Austrian figure skater, who first performed the jump in 1913
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Early reviewers, writes Ms. Lutz, found the book “too gloomy, savage, and eccentric.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Usually, big swings in crude prices come mainly from shifts in global demand and expectations – not from supply disruptions, according to widely cited research in 2009 by the economist Lutz Kilian.
From Salon • May 13, 2026
“Civilians don’t get the army stuff,” he later wrote to Lutz in a text message reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026
Lutz was among the early researchers who explored deep-sea vents when they were first discovered.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026
So this test—they named it the Bernard Lutz Philanthropic Exam, in honor of his philanthropicness—became fairly important in my life.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
