hatchet

[hach-it]

noun

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.

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.

hatchet

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• hatchetlike adjective
• hatchet-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hatchet¹

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of hatchet¹

C14: from Old French hachette, from hache axe, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German happa knife

Idioms and Phrases

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.

More idioms and phrases containing hatchet

• bury the hatchet

Example Sentences

I grab the hilt and start hacking my way forward, using it as a makeshift hatchet.

Read more on Literature

But wanting to remind folks that he could still be funny, he decided to bury the hatchet with “Saturday Night Live,” returning to host in 2019: “‘SNL’ is part of my history.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Just over a decade ago, when Congress was taking its periodic look at the food stamp program, House Republicans lined up with their legislative hatchets.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Well — but it’s happening. This hatchet is falling on the heads of employees all across the nation, and you’re not even prepared to address whether that’s legal, even though that’s what this motion challenges?”

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But in a shock move, a beleaguered Brown, suffering low polling ratings, appeared to bury the hatchet and appointed his former friend as business secretary, making him a peer at the same time.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• machete