axe

British  

/ æks /

noun

1. a hand tool with one side of its head forged and sharpened to a cutting edge, used for felling trees, splitting timber, etc See also hatchet

2. 1. an ulterior motive

   2. a grievance

   3. a pet subject

3. informal

   1. dismissal, esp from employment; the sack (esp in the phrase get the axe )

   2. severe cutting down of expenditure, esp the removal of unprofitable sections of a public service

4. slang any musical instrument, esp a guitar or horn

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verb

1. to chop or trim with an axe

2. informal to dismiss (employees), restrict (expenditure or services), or terminate (a project)

Etymology

Origin of axe

Old English æx; related to Old Frisian axa, Old High German acchus, Old Norse öx, Latin ascia, Greek axinē

Example Sentences

Using a soup ladle attached to an ice axe, Swanson reached out, straining to touch the ground as the helicopter lowered nearer and nearer the summit.

From Literature

She threw the axe, overhand, as hard and straight as she could: not hard, not straight, but with an awesome fury.

From Literature

“Nicknames such as ‘Lizzie’ are reserved for barmaids and axe murderers, of which you are neither,” she once said.

From Literature

The 450,000 objects, which are being held in a secret warehouse, include a possible Roman gladiator's tag, a hand axe that may be more than 40,000 years old and 19th Century gold dentures.

From BBC

In the meantime, the domestic club game is in crisis with the Welsh Rugby Union keen on axing one of the four professional teams competing in the United Rugby Championship to save money.

From Barron's

Related Words

• consume
• crush
• damage
• dismantle
• end
• eradicate
• gut
• impair
• kill
• maim
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• smash
• smash-up
• wipe out
• wreck