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.
-
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.
-
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
-
a tomahawk
-
(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 )
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.
The government took a hatchet to its payrolls.
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.
From 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?”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
From BBC
Noel and Liam Gallagher buried the hatchet to get back on stage for the first time in 16 years in Cardiff a week ago, and received enthusiastic reviews from ticket-holders and critics.
From BBC
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.
