hatchet
- 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.
- a tomahawk.
- hatchetfish.
- to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.
- to abridge, delete, excise, etc.: The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.
- bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.
- 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.
Origin of hatchet
Examples from the Web for hatchet
Contemporary Examples
The conviction of the man known as The Hatchet, infamous for filming himself torturing gay people, is good news.
This is not a hatchet job, and it certainly could have been.
From Kimmel and Kanye burying the hatchet to a telekinetic coffee shop surprise, WATCH our countdown.
And, he added, a mayor would be foolish to attempt to “take a hatchet to the financial industry.”
According to the police report, officers also found a Taser and a hatchet in the house.
Historical Examples
The muses, like vines, may be pruned, but not with a hatchet.
Joseph Andrews, Vol. 2Henry Fielding
Oh, how I understood now the rascally-looking fellow, with his hatchet and tomahawk!
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
The next moment he threw the hatchet at me, and began to run toward me.
Southern Lights and ShadowsVarious
The hatchet struck my foot, and the blow roused me, and I sprang into the boat.
Southern Lights and ShadowsVarious
One of them was as tall as De Launay, gaunt and hatchet faced.
Louisiana LouWilliam West Winter
hatchet
- a short axe used for chopping wood, etc
- a tomahawk
- (modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp featuresa hatchet face
- bury the hatchet to cease hostilities and become reconciled
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for hatchet
n.
c.1300 "small ax" (mid-12c. in surnames), from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache "ax, battle-axe, pickaxe," possibly from Frankish *happja or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hæbijo (cf. Old High German happa "sickle, scythe"), from PIE root *kop- "to beat, strike" (cf. Greek kopis "knife;" Lithuanian kaplys "hatchet," kapoti "cut small;" Old Church Slavonic skopiti "castrate").
In Middle English, hatch itself was used in a sense "battle-axe." In 14c., hang up (one's) hatchet meant "stop what one is doing." Phrase bury the hatchet (1794) is from a supposed Native American peacemaking custom. Hatchet-man was originally California slang for "hired Chinese assassin" (1880), later extended figuratively to journalists who attacked the reputation of a public figure (1944).
Idioms and Phrases with hatchet
hatchet
In addition to the idioms beginning with hatchet
- hatchet job
- hatchet man
also see:
- bury the hatchet