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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

Exactly who will get the ax, and when it will fall, isn’t divulged.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 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

Varney used his head and nose when he spoke, slashing the air with his sharp aquiline face as though it were an ax chopping at some invisible woodpile just below his eyes.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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

From "George" by Alex Gino

“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

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

Awaiting the landfall, we slept upstairs with a life raft, axes and an emergency weather radio, in case we had to escape through the roof.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

But they were pushed back this week, and the government launched a counter-offensive into Tigrayan territory along three axes towards Mekelle, according to the Critical Threats Project, part of the American Enterprise Institute think tank.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

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

"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

Redemption’s voice was flint and doors and axes.

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi

A taxpayer-funded programme aimed at boosting young people's interest in politics should not be axed just because "money is tight", one of its members has said.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Aircraft tracking website FlightRadar24 said 177 flights scheduled for Wednesday had already been axed, following 1,300 cancellations to and from UK airports a day before.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

Dependable harvest jobs for farmworkers have been axed, as some growers can’t afford the expense of picking and storing crops they might not be able to sell.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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

I axed Syl, “So you learnt how to do ciphering in that school?”

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

Plus: Corporate America is axing the ‘micro-team’ boss; Volkswagen board approves doubling job cuts to 100,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

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

Aston Martin has confirmed it will be axing 20% of its workforce, with the firm's net losses jumping 52% last year to £493.2m.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 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