poleax

[pohl-aks]

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.

Origin of poleax

1300–50; Middle English pollax battle-ax, literally, head-ax (see poll¹, ax); akin to Middle Low German polexe

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

Examples from the Web for poleax

Historical Examples

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

n.

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)).