noun
raised leg; lifting a leg
Literal meaning: a leg that is lifted or the action of lifting a leg. Most commonly encountered in the idiom 揚げ足を取る (to find fault, to pick on someone's words).
相撲で相手の揚げ足を取るのは反則だ。
In sumo, grabbing the opponent's raised leg is a foul.
彼はすぐ人の揚げ足を取る癖がある。
He has a habit of picking on people's minor mistakes.
noun
market upturn; rising trend
Only when written 上げ足 / 上足
Financial term for an upward movement in the market. Antonym: 下げ足 (さげあし). Restricted to the kanji forms 上げ足 and 上足.
Antonyms: 下げ足
今日の相場は上げ足が強い。
The market is showing a strong upturn today.
noun
Archaic term for sitting cross-legged. Not used in modern Japanese; the common word is あぐら (胡坐).
古文書には「揚げ足」を組んで座る様子が描かれている。
Old documents depict sitting with legs crossed as '揚げ足'.
Variant spelling; 挙 is also used for 'raising' but 揚げ足 is more frequent.
Used for the market upturn sense; also an acceptable variant for the literal sense.
Abbreviated spelling; less common.
Rare spelling for the market upturn sense.
Compound of 揚げ (age, 'raising') + 足 (ashi, 'leg'). The literal meaning 'raised leg' gave rise to the idiomatic expression 揚げ足を取る. The market sense is a metaphorical extension of 'rising'. The archaic 'cross-legged' sense likely comes from the posture of lifting one's legs.