helve

[ helv ]
See synonyms for helve on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the handle of an ax, hatchet, hammer, or the like.

verb (used with object),helved, helv·ing.
  1. to furnish with a helve.

Origin of helve

1
before 900; Middle English; Old English h(i)elfe

Other words from helve

  • helver, noun
  • un·helved, adjective

Words Nearby helve

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use helve in a sentence

  • She searched his face with steady eyes, her hand on the ax-helve, in earnest effort to read his heart.

  • She disposed the ax to conceal it entirely beneath her long apron, her hand under the garment grasping the helve.

  • With the fall of the blow, and the shock of it running up the helve through arms and shoulders, they were completely awake.

    The Boss of Wind River | David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
  • He had taken but a few of these when the axe flew from the helve, narrowly missing the Professor's head.

  • His hands were playing with a pickaxe helve, as if he longed to have me under it.

    Lorna Doone | R. D. Blackmore

British Dictionary definitions for helve

helve

/ (hɛlv) /


noun
  1. the handle of a hand tool such as an axe or pick

verb
  1. (tr) to fit a helve to (a tool)

Origin of helve

1
Old English hielfe; related to Old Saxon hèlvi, Old High German halb, Lithuanian kìlpa stirrup; see halter

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