hatchet

American  

[hach-it] / ˈhætʃ ɪt /

noun

• hatchets
  plural

1. a small, short-handled ax having the end of the head opposite the blade in the form of a hammer, made to be used with one hand.

2. a tomahawk.

3. hatchetfish.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.

2. to abridge, delete, excise, etc..

   The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.

idioms

1. bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.

2. take up the hatchet, to begin or resume hostilities; prepare for or go to war.

   The natives are taking up the hatchet against the enemy.

hatchet British  

/ ˈhætʃɪt /

noun

1. a short axe used for chopping wood, etc

2. a tomahawk

3. (modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features

   a hatchet face

4. to cease hostilities and become reconciled

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hatchet More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing hatchet

• bury the hatchet

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hatchet-like
  adjective
• hatchetlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hatchets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hatchet

1300–50; 1670–80, hatchet for def. 6; Middle English hachet < Middle French hachette, diminutive ( see -et) of hache ax < Frankish *hapja kind of knife; akin to Greek kóptein to cut ( cf. comma, syncope)

Explanation

A hatchet is a little ax used for chopping wood or for hewing a round log into a squared-off shape. If you go camping, you might take a hatchet with you. If someone hands you a hatchet and tells you to start splitting a pile of firewood, they expect you to chop each log into smaller pieces. The difference between a hatchet and an ax is that hatchets have short handles and are meant to be held in one hand. Axes have longer handles for two-handed chopping. If someone wants to "bury the hatchet," it's not a threat—they just want to end an argument and be friends.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hatchet hatchets

While a pair of lawsuits fractured their relationship between 2021 and 2023, IBM and GlobalFoundries have since buried the hatchet.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

An image from the scene appeared to show a hatchet with a yellow and black handle lying in the back seat.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Most famously, Parson Weems invented from whole cloth the story about young Washington taking a hatchet to his father’s cherry tree, then confessing to it.

From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2026

The government took a hatchet to its payrolls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

I found a hatchet, broken crockery, a barrel of wormy flour, a mildewy straw tick, a ball of twine, but no rope.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The documentary closes on a similar note: Take That are national treasures, their reputation is secure, their hatchets are buried.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026

Later in the day, McNally acknowledged Corden’s “gracious” mea culpa, and once again, all hatchets seemed buried.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 25, 2022

The smugglers had placed the radio and hatchets there to help the migrants call for help and break out of the trailer should they run into trouble.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 27, 2022

She said that for the most part, the approximately 500 axes and hatchets sold in the store this year were given as gifts or bought as home design pieces.

From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2019

If only I had had as many arms as the goddess Durga—two to hold the gaffs, four to grasp the fish and two to wield the hatchets.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Related Words

• machete