hatchet
Americannoun
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a small, short-handled ax having the end of the head opposite the blade in the form of a hammer, made to be used with one hand.
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a tomahawk.
verb (used with object)
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to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.
-
to abridge, delete, excise, etc..
The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.
idioms
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bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.
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take up the hatchet, to begin or resume hostilities; prepare for or go to war.
The natives are taking up the hatchet against the enemy.
noun
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a short axe used for chopping wood, etc
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a tomahawk
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(modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features
a hatchet face
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to cease hostilities and become reconciled
Other Word Forms
- hatchet-like adjective
- hatchetlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of hatchet
1300–50; 1670–80, hatchet for def. 6; Middle English hachet < Middle French hachette, diminutive ( -et ) of hache ax < Frankish *hapja kind of knife; akin to Greek kóptein to cut ( comma, syncope )
Explanation
A hatchet is a little ax used for chopping wood or for hewing a round log into a squared-off shape. If you go camping, you might take a hatchet with you. If someone hands you a hatchet and tells you to start splitting a pile of firewood, they expect you to chop each log into smaller pieces. The difference between a hatchet and an ax is that hatchets have short handles and are meant to be held in one hand. Axes have longer handles for two-handed chopping. If someone wants to "bury the hatchet," it's not a threat—they just want to end an argument and be friends.
Vocabulary lists containing hatchet
Hatchet
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"Train Time," Vocabulary from the short story
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The River
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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.
Legendary rivals Ozzy Lusth and Benjamin “Coach” Wade appeared to bury the hatchet, only for their conflict to reignite soon after.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
The government took a hatchet to its payrolls.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025
Tottenham were still far too slick for Copenhagen and Van de Ven buried the hatchet in the 64th minute.
From Barron's • Nov. 4, 2025
The groundbreaking first film - Ricky Gervais's favourite - focused on Tap's disastrous US tour, and the band still brand DiBergi's treatment as "a hatchet job".
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2025
Captain Smith finds me using a hatchet to sharpen palisade post tips.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
