axe

A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it.

Noun

  1. A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it.
  2. An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
  3. A dismissal or rejection.
    • His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.

    Synonyms: chop pink slip sack boot

  4. A drastic reduction or cutback.
    • the Beeching Axe
    • The tractor plant is slated for the axe.
    • I had a job in the great North Woods Workin' as a cook for a spell But I never did like it all that much And one day the axe just fell - 1975, Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”, in Blood on the Tracks:
  5. A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
  6. A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.
    • A financial dealer has an axe in a stock that his buyers don't know about, giving him an advantage in making the most profit.

Origin

From Middle English ax, axe, ex, from Old English æx (“axe”), from Proto-West Germanic *akusi (“axe”), from Proto-Germanic *akwisī (“axe”), probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷsih₂ (“axe”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”). Cognate with Scots aix (“axe”), Dutch aks (“axe”), German Axt (“axe”), Danish økse (“axe”), Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk øks (“axe”), Icelandic öxi (“axe”), Swedish yxa (“axe”), Latin ascia (“axe, mason's trowel”).

Forms

axes ax

Hyponyms

battle axe battleaxe Beeching Axe crash axe Dane axe Danish axe fire axe hatchet Jeddart axe Lochaber axe throwing-axe tomahawk wagoner's axe

Related

adze hatchet twibill

Derived

axeblade axe bombing Axe Creek axe head axe kick axeless axelike axeman axemanship axe murder axe-murder axe-murderer axe murderer axe throwing axe to grind axewoman axe wound Bad Axe battle-axe boarding axe break-axe broadaxe curtal-axe curt-axe

Noun archaic

  1. The axle of a wheel.

Origin

Derived from French axe, from Latin axis.

Forms

axes ax

Verb Entry 3

  1. To fell or chop with an axe.
  2. To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
    • The government announced its plans to axe public spending.
    • The broadcaster axed the series because far fewer people than expected watched it.
    • He got axed in the last round of firings.

    Synonyms: downsize fire lay off axe can decruit dehire discard remove discharge dismiss give the axe give someone the boot give someone their cards give the chop give the elbow give someone the heave-ho give someone the old heave-ho let go let someone go make redundant pink slip promote to customer retrench

Forms

axes axing axeing axed ax

Verb Entry 4

  1. To furnish with an axle.

Forms

axes axing axed ax

Verb alt of, alternative

  1. Alternative form of ask.
    • Axe and it ſhalbe geven you. Seke and ye ſhall fynd / Knocke and it ſhalbe opened vnto you. - 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell...
    • I axe you—have I said one word about that little matter to-day? - 1904, Jr. John Fox, “The Army of the Callahan”, in Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories:
    • I axe him to sit down and drink some of my wine, but he says no thanks, he just come to axe me a question. - 2013 November 18, Loren D. Estleman, Edsel, Stress, and Motown (The Detroit Novels; I), →ISBN, page 140:

Origin

From Old English axian (“ask”); see ax for more.

Forms

axes axing axed