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

That advice included “find a private cadre of advisers who have no axes to grind” and “call your mom.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 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

But Neil and the chrome hearts would also swap their axes for acoustic guitars.

From Salon • Aug. 19, 2025

The differences between those trajectories were stamped by continental differences in domesticable plants and animals, germs, times of settlement, orientation of continental axes, and ecological barriers.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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