hatchet

American  

[hach-it] / ˈhætʃ ɪt /

noun

• hatchets
  plural

1. 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.

2. a tomahawk.

3. hatchetfish.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.

2. to abridge, delete, excise, etc..

   The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.

idioms

1. bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.

2. 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.

hatchet British  

/ ˈhætʃɪt /

noun

1. a short axe used for chopping wood, etc

2. a tomahawk

3. (modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features

   a hatchet face

4. to cease hostilities and become reconciled

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hatchet More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing hatchet

• bury the hatchet

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hatchet-like
  adjective
• hatchetlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hatchets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hatchet

1300–50; 1670–80, hatchet for def. 6; Middle English hachet < Middle French hachette, diminutive ( see -et) of hache ax < Frankish *hapja kind of knife; akin to Greek kóptein to cut ( cf. 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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hatchet hatchets

A California couple attacked by a bear outside their eastern Sierra Nevada home have survived the encounter after fighting off the animal with a water bottle and a hatchet, authorities said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

And is it finally time for England to bury the hatchet with Ollie Robinson?

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

Most famously, Parson Weems invented from whole cloth the story about young Washington taking a hatchet to his father’s cherry tree, then confessing to it.

From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026

The government took a hatchet to its payrolls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

Lastly I cobbled together a rough ladder using the hatchet and twine I’d found.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The documentary closes on a similar note: Take That are national treasures, their reputation is secure, their hatchets are buried.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026

The smugglers had placed the radio and hatchets there to help the migrants call for help and break out of the trailer should they run into trouble.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 27, 2022

This is perhaps why the title of Aron’s book is taken from Carry Nation, the 19th-century temperance crusader who took hatchets to bar tops and greeted bartenders as “destroyers of men’s souls.”

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2020

“Again, neither one of us is dead, neither one of us is looking to throw hatchets at each other,” he said.

From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2018

Barrels of tea were dragged across the deck of the ship, laid on their sides and hacked at with the crude hatchets until they cracked open like eggs, revealing the rich dark tea inside.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• machete