sprain
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
-
a violent straining or wrenching of the parts around a joint, without dislocation.
-
the condition of being sprained.
verb
noun
Related Words
See strain 1.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sprain
First recorded in 1595–1605; origin uncertain
Explanation
To sprain one of your joints is to twist it suddenly. The result is a sprain, in which the ligaments have been injured. Don’t go hiking in high heels because you might sprain your ankle. A sprain — which occurs at joints such as the wrist, elbow, or knee — happens when the ligaments are turned quickly and painfully. After the initial pain, a sprain will swell up. Spraining something is difficult, but things could be worse — a sprained knee will heal quicker than a broken bone.
Vocabulary lists containing sprain
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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.
Courtney Sprain, a geoscientist at the University of Liverpool in England who was not involved in either study, says more data are needed to pin down the drivers of the Ediacaran extinction.
From Scientific American • Feb. 15, 2019
“It does tick off some of the boxes of magnetic reversal,” said Courtney Sprain, a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool in England, who added that “we definitely can’t say that for sure.”
From Seattle Times • Feb. 4, 2019
“But how? How do you hurry that up? With some physical injuries, you kinda know. Tear a hamstring, you’re out six months. Sprain your ankle, couple weeks. But for this? I don’t know.”
From Salon • Jun. 23, 2018
It happened around 2 p.m. on the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers, just north of New York City.
From Washington Times • Nov. 24, 2016
Sprain of the fetlock joint is most common in the fore legs, and, as a rule, affects but one at a time.
From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Michener, Charles B.
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.
