poleax
[ pohl-aks ]
/ ˈpoʊlˌæks /
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noun, plural pole·ax·es [pohl-ak-siz] /ˈpoʊlˌæk sɪz/.
a medieval shafted weapon with blade combining ax, hammer, and apical spike, used for fighting on foot.
an ax, usually with a hammer opposite the cutting edge, used in stunning and slaughtering animals.
an ax with both a blade and a hook, formerly used in naval warfare to assist sailors in boarding vessels.
verb (used with object), pole·axed, pole·ax·ing.
to strike down or kill with or as if with a poleax.
Nearby words
pole, magnetic, pole, reginald, pole-jump, pole-star, pole-vault, poleax, poleaxe, polecat, poleis, polemarch, polemic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for poleax
He considered a grate-bar from a heating furnace, and then he found the poleax, lying among a pile of wormeaten boards.
Police Operation|H. Beam Piper
Word Origin and History for poleax
poleax
kind of axe used as a weapon or by butchers, c.1300, pollax, from pol "head" (see poll (n.)) + ax (n.). From notion of beheading or head-splitting, or perhaps from the shape of the ax. Spelling altered 17c. by confusion with pole (n.1)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper