hatchet
a small, short-handled ax having the end of the head opposite the blade in the form of a hammer, made to be used with one hand.
a tomahawk.
to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.
to abridge, delete, excise, etc.: The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.
Idioms about hatchet
bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.
take up the hatchet, to begin or resume hostilities; prepare for or go to war: The natives are taking up the hatchet against the enemy.
Origin of hatchet
1Other words from hatchet
- hatch·et·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hatchet in a sentence
He observed that they “seem to cut their characters out with hatchets and to color them with the brushes of house-painters.”
While they are keeping details tight, they did spill the code name: “Hats and Hatchets.”
A Most Illegal Adventure with New York City’s Wildest Underground Event Planners | Nina Strochlic | December 16, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTNear the fireplaces Mr. Roe picked up some stones that had been chipped probably in the manufacture of their hatchets.
The flint hatchets found at St. Acheul, France, were obtained from a gravel bed which lay below twelve feet of sand and marl.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles MorrisSo great was the stillness, that the blows of the hatchets as the chests were split open were distinctly heard.
The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2 | Egerton Ryerson
As they climbed nearer, the British charged them with bayonets, and hacked them with hatchets and knives.
Four American Indians | Edson L. WhitneySo, with their hatchets they hewed it down and brought it safely home the next night when all was dark.
British Dictionary definitions for hatchet
/ (ˈhætʃɪt) /
a short axe used for chopping wood, etc
a tomahawk
(modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features: a hatchet face
bury the hatchet to cease hostilities and become reconciled
Origin of hatchet
1Derived forms of hatchet
- hatchet-like, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with hatchet
In addition to the idioms beginning with hatchet
- hatchet job
- hatchet man
also see:
- bury the hatchet
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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