Which term describes bending a joint to decrease the angle between bones?

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The movement described is about how the angle between two bones changes at a joint. When you bend a joint so the two bones come closer together, the angle between them gets smaller—that is flexion. This is seen when you bend the elbow or knee, bringing the forearm toward the upper arm. The opposite action, extension, straightens the joint and increases that angle. Abduction and adduction describe movement away from or toward the body's midline, respectively, and don’t focus on changing the joint angle in the same way. So bending to decrease the angle between bones is flexion.