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

Though she was fully aware of the potential controversy of her charges, she never intended for her book to be the hatchet job that many reviewers believed it to be.

From New York Times • Nov. 4, 2022

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

Woody Allen and his wife Soon-Yi Previn have described a new documentary series about the US actor and director as a "hatchet job riddled with falsehoods".

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2021

Also, unlike my Pathfinder hatchet job, I had the full schematics of the drill.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir