have an ax to grind

Save This Word!

To have a selfish motive or personal stake in a matter: “When the lobbyist approached the senators, they suspected he had an ax to grind.”

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Words nearby have an ax to grind

have a hold over, have all one's buttons, have a lot going for, have a lot on one's plate, have a mind to, have an ax to grind, have an edge on, have a nerve, have an eye for, have a nice day, have another guess coming

How to use have an ax to grind in a sentence

What 15 months in a federal correction institution will be like, according to a man who counsels to-be inmates.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That means the F-35 will be almost entirely reliant on long-range air-to-air missiles.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It will still carry a pair of Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM long-range air-to-air missiles and a pair of bombs.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The lack of a gun is not likely to be a major problem for close-in air-to-air dogfights against other jets.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

My younger, straighter-than-an-arrow son was stopped and arrested in two separate jurisdictions a few years ago.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face?|Goldie Taylor|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Each day she resolved, "To-morrow I will tell Felipe;" and when to-morrow came, she put it off again.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
All the operations of her brain related themselves somehow to to-morrow afternoon.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
"Buy something for your wife that-is-to-be," he said to his grand-nephew, as he handed him the folded paper.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Something remote and ancient stirred in her, something that was not of herself To-day, something half primitive, half barbaric.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
To-day I'm more dead than alive, as we had a lesson from him yesterday that lasted four hours.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay