ax to grind

Idioms  

1. A selfish aim or motive, as in The article criticized the new software, but the author had an ax to grind, as its manufacturer had fired his son. This frequently used idiom comes from a story by Charles Miner, published in 1811, about a boy who was flattered into turning the grindstone for a man sharpening his ax. He worked hard until the school bell rang, whereupon the man, instead of thanking the boy, began to scold him for being late and told him to hurry to school. “Having an ax to grind” then came into figurative use for having a personal motive for some action. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

It has no ideological ax to grind, although it makes a persuasive case for the expansiveness of American poetry as a parallel to the definition of Americanness itself.

From The Wall Street Journal

The play hasn’t any ax to grind.

From Los Angeles Times

So, I have a little bit of an ax to grind about it.

From Los Angeles Times

As he explained to reporters, “I think the nomination is going to go forward,” adding that while he had not reviewed the affidavit, he had “grave doubts as to the substance” and believed that its author “has an ax to grind.”

From Slate

Kinch told the paper he was not racist and that he was being targeted by colleagues with “an ax to grind.”

From Salon