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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Injuries & Recovery

Sprain

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/spreɪn/nounCore term

In sports & fitness, sprain means: An injury in which a ligament, the tissue that joins bones at a joint, is stretched or torn, often at the ankle, knee or wrist.

In Turkish: burkulma, bağ zorlanması

How it is used

Common in team sports, running and court sports. Medical staff grade sprains from mild to severe. As a verb: "She sprained her ankle on the stairs."

Example sentences

  1. He landed badly and sprained his ankle in the first quarter.

  2. The scan showed a mild sprain, so she should be back next week.

Common collocations

  • ankle sprain
  • sprain an ankle
  • mild sprain
  • wrist sprain
  • strainAn injury in which a muscle or tendon is overstretched or partly torn, often in the hamstring, calf or groin.
  • ligamentA strong band of tissue that connects two bones at a joint and keeps the joint stable, for example in the knee or ankle.
  • injuryPhysical damage to the body, such as a torn muscle, a sprained ankle or a broken bone, especially one that stops an athlete from training or playing.
  • ACLShort for anterior cruciate ligament: a key ligament inside the knee that connects the thigh bone to the shin bone and keeps the knee stable.
  • physioInformal for physiotherapist or physiotherapy: the health professional who assesses and treats injuries with exercise, hands-on therapy and other methods.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Injuries & Recovery

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