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
1925-30; after Axel Paulsen (1855-1938), Norwegian figure skater, who popularized the maneuver
(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
C20: named after Axel Paulsen (died 1938), Norwegian skater
Word Origin and History for axel
n.
skating jump, 1930, named for Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen (1855-1938).