battle-ax

[ bat-l-aks ]

/ ˈbæt lˌæks /

a broadax formerly used as a weapon of war.

Slang. a domineering, aggressive, sharp-tempered person, especially a woman.

Nearby words

1350–1400; Middle English batelax

You go not in gleaming steel and fretted mail to meet the bite of blade and crash of battle-ax.
The Valiants of Virginia|Hallie Erminie Rives
He pleaded for his life, but it had no effect upon the Fire Eater, who shortly arose and approached him with his battle-ax.
The Way of an Indian|Frederic Remington
In Bontoc the head weapon is a battle-ax, in Quiangan it is a long knife.
The Bontoc Igorot|Albert Ernest Jenks
In the afternoon he showed to better advantage, for then he would go down to the South Meadow and practise with a battle-ax.
Modern Essays|John Macy

Let us surrender the tools of idiocy; especially, let us abandon all 124 claim to the helmet and battle-ax.
'Charge It'|Irving Bacheller