hatchet
Americannoun
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hatchets
plural
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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.
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a tomahawk.
verb (used with object)
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to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.
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to abridge, delete, excise, etc..
The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.
idioms
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bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.
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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.
noun
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a short axe used for chopping wood, etc
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a tomahawk
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(modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features
a hatchet face
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to cease hostilities and become reconciled
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hatchet
1300–50; 1670–80, hatchet for def. 6; Middle English hachet < Middle French hachette, diminutive ( see -et) of hache ax < Frankish *hapja kind of knife; akin to Greek kóptein to cut ( cf. comma, syncope)
Explanation
A hatchet is a little ax used for chopping wood or for hewing a round log into a squared-off shape. If you go camping, you might take a hatchet with you. If someone hands you a hatchet and tells you to start splitting a pile of firewood, they expect you to chop each log into smaller pieces. The difference between a hatchet and an ax is that hatchets have short handles and are meant to be held in one hand. Axes have longer handles for two-handed chopping. If someone wants to "bury the hatchet," it's not a threat—they just want to end an argument and be friends.
Vocabulary lists containing hatchet
Hatchet
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"Train Time," Vocabulary from the short story
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The River
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
No media hatchet man could come up with a more damaging word to describe what happened out there.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The hatchet burial has been brewing for a while.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
While a pair of lawsuits fractured their relationship between 2021 and 2023, IBM and GlobalFoundries have since buried the hatchet.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
“He fought the bear off with a hatchet, and ultimately they both got away,” Collins said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
Blake recounted how he woke from a nap behind the stables to find Cora standing over him with her hatchet, blubbering.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
The documentary closes on a similar note: Take That are national treasures, their reputation is secure, their hatchets are buried.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
Later in the day, McNally acknowledged Corden’s “gracious” mea culpa, and once again, all hatchets seemed buried.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2022
When agents stopped a truck going through a Border Patrol highway checkpoint in Texas earlier this month they found 70 illegal immigrants in the semi-trailer — and walkie-talkie and two hatchets.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 27, 2022
She said that for the most part, the approximately 500 axes and hatchets sold in the store this year were given as gifts or bought as home design pieces.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2019
Hugo grabs a knife, hatchets off the tops of his eggs.
From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
