What does Salchow mean? A Salchow (pronounced SAL-cow) is a figure skating jump in which the skater jumps from the back inside edge of one skate, fully rotates (at least once) in the air, and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate. It is sometimes spelled uncapitalized, as salchow. The jump can be performed with multiple rotations, resulting in a double Salchow (two rotations), triple Salchow (three rotations), or quad (or quadruple) Salchow (four rotations). The Salchow is one of the six recognized jumps in competitive figure skating and is classified as an edge jump (along with the loop and axel; the toe loop, Lutz, and flip are classified as toe jumps). Example: She had some trouble with the Salchow in warmups, which is unusual for her, but I expect her to nail it during the routine.
1920–25; after Ulrich Salchow (1877–1949), Swedish figure skater, who first performed it
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Shaidorov hit five quads and an incredible opening triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow combination which racked up big points and settled his nerves.
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
That exhibition, which concluded in May, featured a fictional installation by artist Mona Kuhn, with a soundtrack by Boris Salchow, inspired by Schindler’s romantic life and the home’s bohemian vibe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2022
Edge jumps include the loop, Salchow and Axel.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 14, 2022
The Salchow, the Biellmann, the Charlotte spiral — these figure skating standards are named after white people from the 20th century.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 10, 2022
That ended fast when Hanyu didn’t even attempt a quadruple Salchow, leaving everyone in the arena stunned.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2022
It didn’t matter that he could pull off a side-by-side triple salchow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
On his quad salchow, he only executed a double, then fell.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
The 27-year-old opened with a quadruple toe-triple toe jump combination and also had a quadruple salchow and a triple axel.
From Barron's ● Nov. 15, 2025
Malinin recovered to land a quad salchow before falling on his quad lutz.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
Skating to “Believer,” Kagiyama opened with a quad salchow and followed with a quad toe-loop, triple toe-loop combination and a triple axel for a season’s best score of 105.51 points.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
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.
