ax

or axe

[aks]

noun, plural ax·es

[ak-siz] /ˈæk sɪz/.

an instrument with a bladed head on a handle or helve, used for hewing, cleaving, chopping, etc.
Jazz Slang. any musical instrument.
the ax, Informal.
1. dismissal from employment: to get the ax.
2. expulsion from school.
3. rejection by a lover, friend, etc.: His girlfriend gave him the ax.
4. any usually summary removal or curtailment.

verb (used with object), axed, ax·ing.

to shape or trim with an ax.
to chop, split, destroy, break open, etc., with an ax: The firemen had to ax the door to reach the fire.
Informal. to dismiss, restrict, or destroy brutally, as if with an ax: The main office axed those in the field who didn't meet their quota. Congress axed the budget.

Idioms

have an ax to grind, to have a personal or selfish motive: His interest may be sincere, but I suspect he has an ax to grind.

Origin of ax

before 1000; Middle English; ax(e), ex(e), Old English æx, æces; akin to Gothic aquizi, Old Norse øx, ǫx, Old High German acc(h)us, a(c)kus (German Axt), Middle High German plural exa < Germanic *akwiz-, akuz-, aksi- ≪ *ákəs, áks-; Latin ascia (< *acsiā), Greek axī́nē; < Indo-European *ag-s-

Related formsax·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Word Origin and History for have an ax to grind

ax

n.

see axe (n.).

have an ax to grind in Medicine

ax

abbr.

axis

have an ax to grind in Culture

have an ax to grind

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.”

Idioms and Phrases with have an ax to grind

ax

In addition to the idiom beginning with ax

ax to grind

also see:

get the ax