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).
In sumo, grabbing the opponent's raised leg is a foul.
He has a habit of picking on people's minor mistakes.
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
The market is showing a strong upturn today.
Archaic term for sitting cross-legged. Not used in modern Japanese; the common word is あぐら (胡坐).
Old documents depict sitting with legs crossed as '揚げ足'.
Idiomatic phrase meaning 'to find fault' or 'to pick on someone's words', derived from the literal 'raised leg' sense.
Antonym for the market sense: a downtrend or falling market.
Modern word for sitting cross-legged, replacing the archaic 揚げ足.
faultfinding; carping; quibbling
Most common spelling for the idiomatic use and the literal 'raised leg' sense.
Abbreviated spelling; less common.
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.