Showing results for "axe"

• a variation of ax.

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

“We keep hearing about the Axe cloud, how it goes everywhere,” said Dolores Assalini, head of Axe US.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

To promote the change, Axe is running a campaign called “The History of Overdoing It.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

Mallory Dodge, a stay-at-home mom in Georgia, was flooded with pungent memories of Axe when considering which starter cologne to buy her teenage son last year.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 22, 2026

As part of its industry-wide Axe The Racing Tax campaign, four fixtures scheduled for that day at Lingfield Park, Carlisle, Uttoxeter and Kempton Park have been rearranged by the British Horseracing Authority.

From BBC • Aug. 17, 2025

Tyler’s palms were sweaty when we held hands, and he wore so much Axe body spray, I would go into coughing fits every time we hugged.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

Related Words

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