Lochaber ax

[lo-khah-buhr, lo-kah-ber]

noun

1. a Scottish battle-ax of the 16th century, having a tall, cleaverlike blade with a hook at its upper end.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lochaber ax¹

First recorded in 1610–20; named after Lochaber, Scotland

Example Sentences

It was only at this period that company sergeants were given carbines instead of the Lochaber axes which they had always carried.

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Now their weapons are long bows and forked arrows, swords and targets, harquebusses, muskets, dirks, and Lochaber axes.

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And then happened that short but tremendous fight of Drummossie Moor, commonly called the Battle of Culloden, where claymores and Lochaber axes clashed and glinted for the last time against English broadswords and bayonets.

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The Lochaber axes carried by the guardians of the peace may still be seen in the armoury at Drummond Castle.

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It was in defiance of their Lochaber axes that the Cowgate Port was manned—and many were the occasions on which its defence presented a formidable mimicry of warfare.

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