helve
- the handle of an ax, hatchet, hammer, or the like.
- to furnish with a helve.
Origin of helve
Related Words for helve
cylinder, beam, tunnel, rod, duct, chimney, knob, shaft, stem, vent, monolith, spear, pole, barb, spindle, axis, spire, ray, lance, conduitExamples from the Web for helve
Historical Examples of helve
Why, my dear abbe, how you throw the helve after the hatchet!
The ConspiratorsAlexandre Dumas (Pere)
The pick sunk to its helve in the earth, now softened by the spring rain.
Ruth Fielding At CollegeAlice B. Emerson
I fling but the helve after the hatchet that has sunk into the silent stream.
My Novel, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
The feel of the blow was good as the keen blade sank to the helve.
Connie Morgan in the Fur CountryJames B. Hendryx
So I used the helve of an entrenching-tool and the stalks of the willow undergrowth.
At Suvla BayJohn Hargrave
helve
- the handle of a hand tool such as an axe or pick
- (tr) to fit a helve to (a tool)
Word Origin for helve
Word Origin and History for helve
Old English helfe, hielfe "handle of an axe" or other tool or weapon, from Proto-Germanic *halb- (cf. Old Saxon helvi, Middle Dutch helf, Old High German halb "handle of an axe," Old High German helmo "tiller"); related to halter and helm (1), from PIE *kelp- "to hold, grasp." In Middle English, to holden the axe bi the helve (c.1200) meant "to take something by the right end."