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• ax
  ax

  noun

  an instrument with a bladed head on a handle or helve, used for hewing, cleaving, chopping, etc.
• ax-
  ax-

  variant of axi-, especially before a vowel.
• ax.
  ax.

  abbreviation

  axiom.

ax

¹ American  

[aks] / æks /

Or axe

noun

• axes
  plural

1. an instrument with a bladed head on a handle or helve, used for hewing, cleaving, chopping, etc.

2. Jazz Slang. any musical instrument.

3. Informal. the ax,

   1. dismissal from employment.

      to get the ax.

   2. expulsion from school.

   3. rejection by a lover, friend, etc..

      His girlfriend gave him the ax.

   4. any usually summary removal or curtailment.

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verb (used with object)

• axes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• axed,
  past participle,  past
• axing
  present participle

1. to shape or trim with an ax.

2. to chop, split, destroy, break open, etc., with an ax.

   The firemen had to ax the door to reach the fire.

3. Informal. to dismiss, restrict, or destroy brutally, as if with an ax.

   The main office axed those in the field who didn't meet their quota. Congress axed the budget.

idioms

1. have an ax to grind, to have a personal or selfish motive.

   His interest may be sincere, but I suspect he has an ax to grind.

ax- ² American  

1. variant of axi-, especially before a vowel.

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ax. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. axiom.

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ax More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing ax

• get the ax

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• axlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• axes
  plural

Participles

• axing
  present
• axed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• ax
  simple
• axes
  simple
• have axed
  perfect
• has axed
  perfect
• am axing
  progressive
• are axing
  progressive
• is axing
  progressive
• have been axing
  perfect progressive
• has been axing
  perfect progressive

Past

• axed
  simple
• had axed
  perfect
• was axing
  progressive
• were axing
  progressive
• had been axing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will ax
  simple
• will have axed
  perfect
• will be axing
  progressive
• will have been axing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of ax

before 1000; Middle English; ax ( e ), ex ( e ), Old English æx, æces; akin to Gothic aquizi, Old Norse øx, ǫx, Old High German acc ( h ) us, a ( c ) kus ( German Axt ), Middle High German plural exa < Germanic *akwiz-, akuz-, aksi- ≪ *ákəs, áks-; Latin ascia (< *acsiā ), Greek axī́nē; < Indo-European *ag-s-

Explanation

An ax is a sharp tool for cutting wood. When you split logs, you hold the handle, swing the ax into the air, and let the blade fall on the wood. Most axes have a long wooden handle connected to a blade made of sharpened steel. An ax is a useful tool to own if you have a wood stove or are building a campfire. You can also spell the word with an e at the end: axe. As a verb, to ax means to fire someone from a job: "He was late so many times that I finally had to ax him."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ax ax. axes axed axing

He stood about 25 feet tall, ax in hand, wearing a red hat and rictus grin.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026

Oracle, Microsoft and now Meta Platforms are taking an ax to their workforces, with the social-media company saying it will lay off 10% of its employees next month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

Disney is preparing to ax as many as 1,000 positions in the next few weeks, The Wall Street Journal External link reported late Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026

If U.S. regulators really don’t want the country’s biggest filmed content streamer to own HBO and Warner’s studios, then they’ll ax the Netflix deal.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 12, 2026

But when Luiz, the steersman in Roosevelt’s canoe, took his ax and chopped into the hollow of the tree, Roosevelt could see a waxy formation.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

“This time, if I win, you marry Vicky. One, two, three . . .” “Snake swallows ax. I win again! So long to Vicky.”

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

“I ain’t got no ax. I’m strictly a bass man. Da-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum.”

From "George" by Alex Gino

The motor-cell body, with protoplasmic processes, axis cylinder, side fibrils or collaterals, and end ramifications, represents parts of a neuron. a. h., axon hillock devoid of Nissl bodies, showing fibrillation; ax., axon.

From Psychotherapy by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh

It is his Excalibur, his Andúril, the vaunted weapon only he can string and use to hit a bullseye through a row of twelve crossed axes.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026

It bears heavy signs of use and was made by Fuhrer Frères of Gstaad, the same Swiss firm that supplied fifteen axes to the 1924 Everest expedition.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

"Meaning, as they spin around on their axes and orbit around their parents, those rates/frequencies match, leading to the phenomena like us only seeing one side of our moon."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

It ends a valuable deferred compensation program, axes health benefits and changes commissions on several types of policy, according to agents and company documents reviewed by the Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

I flee to where I left Chou and Pithy, and see their figures running toward me, axes over their shoulders, faces full of worry and fear.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

On day one, Mr. Burnham already axed Keir Starmer’s unpopular digital ID plan and promised a more devolved government.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

A stage at Reading Festival which previously hosted up-and-coming musicians including Ed Sheeran and Florence + the Machine has been axed.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Rachel Reeves was axed as finance minister, replaced by John Healey, while David Lammy left his role as deputy prime minister, as Burnham promoted his own allies and reshuffled the existing pack.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Roles across consulting, sales and the Xbox gaming unit are among those likely to be axed, the people also said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026

Why, if I had a penny for each person what axed me if you was a dimwit, I’d be rich as George Washington!

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis

VW, whose 10 brands range from mass-market Seats to premium Porsches, is already in the process of axing 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, including 35,000 at its namesake marque.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

The broadcaster needs to make £500m savings over the next two years, and interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies did not rule out axing entire channels or services.

From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026

With logistics-software provider WiseTech axing more than a quarter of its staff on AI-driven efficiencies, the Jarden analysts take a look at possible impacts of similar potential moves elsewhere.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week seemed to come the closest a Cabinet official has come to a Trump axing this term.

From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2026

Mr. Leroy said, “I got some extra set aside, Zeph. I ain’t axing you to do this for nothing.”

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis