axe

British  

/ æks /

noun

1. a hand tool with one side of its head forged and sharpened to a cutting edge, used for felling trees, splitting timber, etc See also hatchet

2. 1. an ulterior motive

   2. a grievance

   3. a pet subject

3. informal

   1. dismissal, esp from employment; the sack (esp in the phrase get the axe )

   2. severe cutting down of expenditure, esp the removal of unprofitable sections of a public service

4. slang any musical instrument, esp a guitar or horn

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verb

1. to chop or trim with an axe

2. informal to dismiss (employees), restrict (expenditure or services), or terminate (a project)

Etymology

Origin of axe

Old English æx; related to Old Frisian axa, Old High German acchus, Old Norse öx, Latin ascia, Greek axinē

Example Sentences

Still, this could reverse if hiring slows or jobs face the axe due to lingering uncertainty, while the ECB already expects wage growth to cool this year.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

The carmaker is struggling with Chinese competition, US tariffs and patchy demand for electric vehicles, and already has plans to axe 50,000 jobs across all its brands in Germany by 2030.

From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026

And these men were largely not actually given the public axe, and not made to endure the resulting public humiliation.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2026

In September 2023 Epic said it would axe 830 roles, equating to around 16% of its workforce, citing similar struggles.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Gimli the dwarf alone wore openly a short shirt of steel-rings, for dwarves make light of burdens; and in his belt was a broad-bladed axe.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Related Words

• consume
• crush
• damage
• dismantle
• end
• eradicate
• gut
• impair
• kill
• maim
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• smash
• smash-up
• wipe out
• wreck