hatchet job

American  

noun

1. a maliciously destructive critique or act.

   The special committee has done a hatchet job on the new proposal.

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hatchet job British  

noun

1. informal a malicious or devastating verbal or written attack

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hatchet job Idioms  

1. see hatchet man, def. 2.

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Etymology

Origin of hatchet job

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hatchet job

“It was a hatchet job, a piece of crap,” Rose said of the investigation to the Washington Post.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024

Misunderstood masterpiece or lousy meal, a richly deserved excoriation or hatchet job, what is clear is that Mr. Pellegrino had unexpectedly emerged as the ultimate caricature of the self-obsessed haute cuisine chef.

From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2021

The filmmakers behind HBO’s explosive documentary "Allen v. Farrow" have welcomed the filmmaker to share his side of the story after a spokesperson called the series a "hatchet job."

From Fox News ● Mar. 15, 2021

Allen, now 85, and Previn, 50, issued a joint statement last week accusing the documentarians of “surreptitiously collaborating with the Farrows and their enablers to put together a hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.”

From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2021

He subsequently published the story after deciding that Jefferson had failed to pay him adequately for his hatchet job on Adams.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis