axes

¹ American

[ak-seez] / ˈæk siz /

noun

plural of axis.

axes ² American

[ak-siz] / ˈæk sɪz /

noun

plural of ax or axe.

axes ¹ British

/ ˈæksiːz /

noun

the plural of axis 1

"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

axes ² British

/ ˈæksɪz /

noun

the plural of 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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Hand axes were held in the palm rather than attached to a wooden handle.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

He remembers using ice axes to climb in the winter when he was only 15.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 22, 2025

But there wasn’t much benefit in tracking sales of shovels, pick axes, and sifting pans in order to validate the bull case for the California Gold Rush.

From Barron's • Nov. 20, 2025

We fled late at night to stay at the house of a friend who lived nearby, returning the next morning for the included breakfast of Johnny Cakes shaped like axes.

From Salon • Oct. 31, 2025

He watched Yanomamo work with stone and steel axes and on the basis of these observations came up with a formula to project the time necessary to cut individual trees with both types of tool.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023