axe
US ax
/ (æks) /
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
an axe to grind
an ulterior motive
a grievance
a pet subject
the axe informal
dismissal, esp from employment; the sack (esp in the phrase get the axe)
British severe cutting down of expenditure, esp the removal of unprofitable sections of a public service
US slang any musical instrument, esp a guitar or horn
to chop or trim with an axe
informal to dismiss (employees), restrict (expenditure or services), or terminate (a project)
Origin of axe
1Words Nearby axe
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use axe in a sentence
The Rocket used his stick as though it were a battle axe and hacked at Laycoe, hitting the defenseman in the ear and on the shoulder.
The NHL’s Most Bitter Rivalry Is On Pause. But It Could Come Back With A Vengeance. | Terrence Doyle | February 18, 2021 | FiveThirtyEightAdditionally, if you’re going to stay one step ahead of the guy with the axe, you need to know where your company and the industry is headed and obtain the skills necessary to market yourself in a constantly changing environment.
It’s not about protecting Google, it’s about accounting for when the axe swings in the opposite direction.
Antisemitic memes in image results highlight vulnerabilities in search | George Nguyen | September 30, 2020 | Search Engine LandAnd that means they also fall under the umbrella of programs most likely to get the axe when state and federal budgets are tight.
It was promoted on what might be called not-quite-mainstream or, indeed, axe-to-grind media.
Dutch Biker Gangs Vs. ISIS | Nadette De Visser, Christopher Dickey | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down.
He is the drone official, the bland-faced human-resources manager tasked with dropping the axe.
And it is only one of a number of Afghan schools to face the budget axe swung by distant governments and cost-cutting politicians.
The West Made Lots of Promises to Afghan Girls, Now It’s Breaking Them | Heather Barr | October 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut not too big for the ragged old arm that felled it down as an axe fells the last rings of a stricken tree.
A Lost Hero | Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward and Herbert D. WardFor the laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousShe shook her head—Gilbert was not at home, and her axe was so blunt that a body might ride to Rumford on it.
The World Before Them | Susanna MoodieKing Robert himself was riding in front of Sir Edward's division on a small palfrey, with only a battle-axe in hand.
King Robert the Bruce | A. F. MurisonPatrick had brought an axe and, with the help of some of the boys, soon had a big bonfire burning on the edge of the pond.
The Girls of Central High on the Stage | Gertrude W. Morrison
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