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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

In Silicon Valley and beyond, companies that are cutting staff are doing it with a big ax.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 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

In addition to clothing that protects against the wind and cold, anyone attempting to climb steep terrain covered in snow and ice should have mountaineering boots, heavy metal crampons and an ice ax.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

There was an ax leaning against the front wall and a pile of logs off to the right.

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu