ax
or axe
an instrument with a bladed head on a handle or helve, used for hewing, cleaving, chopping, etc.
Jazz Slang. any musical instrument.
the ax, Informal.
dismissal from employment: to get the ax.
expulsion from school.
rejection by a lover, friend, etc.: His girlfriend gave him the ax.
any usually summary removal or curtailment.
to shape or trim with an ax.
to chop, split, destroy, break open, etc., with an ax: The firemen had to ax the door to reach the fire.
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 about ax
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.
Origin of ax
1Other words from ax
- axlike, adjective
Other definitions for ax- (2 of 3)
variant of axi-, especially before a vowel.
Other definitions for ax. (3 of 3)
axiom.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ax in a sentence
The crusty conservative battle-ax Phyllis Schlafly is giving speeches saying that Obama worships government like a god.
RFRA Madness: What’s Next for Anti-Democratic ‘Religious Exemptions’ | Jay Michaelson | November 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOne morning a few years ago, the editor left his apartment to find an ax stuck into a log on his doorstep.
The Kremlin Is Killing Echo of Moscow, Russia’s Last Independent Radio Station | Anna Nemtsova | November 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“Kasich wields his ax much less selectively than do most of his party colleagues,” the New York Times Magazine reported in 1998.
John Kasich: The GOP’s Hobbled 2016 Dark Horse | W. James Antle III | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThen, one warm summer day, Andrew and Abby were found hacked to death more than a dozen times with an ax.
Would You Stay in Lizzie Borden’s Ax-Murder House? | Nina Strochlic | October 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe ensuing night gave me the grand migraine of my life, with throbs like the blows of an ax and continuous pinwheels.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire | H.L. Mencken | October 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Victor was the younger son and brother—a tete montee, with a temper which invited violence and a will which no ax could break.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinFrom somewhere in the thicket below a muffled thump, thump, thump came up to them, as though some one was wielding an ax.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsThe blows of the ax, off in the chaparral, were louder in their ears now, and they could hear a mumble of voices.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsGregory picked up an ax as he stepped back, and then stood confronting the boys threateningly.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsThe ax was to sever the head from the lifeless body, and all the headless trunks were to be interred together.
Madame Roland, Makers of History | John S. C. Abbott
Other Idioms and Phrases with ax
In addition to the idiom beginning with ax
- ax to grind
also see:
- get the ax
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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