poleaxe

An ax having both a blade and a hammer face; used to slaughter cattle.

Noun

  1. An ax having both a blade and a hammer face; used to slaughter cattle.
  2. A long-handled battle axe, being a combination of ax, hammer and pike.

Origin

From earlier pollax, from poll (“head”) + axe, with the spelling influenced by pole.

Forms

poleaxes poleax pole-axe pollaxe pollax polax

Hypernyms

polearm

Related

pole hammer twibill

Verb

  1. To fell someone with, or as if with, a poleaxe.
  2. To astonish; to shock or surprise utterly.
    • Lisa Griffin, who runs Brew Rock and an Irish pub in nearby Benidorm, was as poleaxed by the announcement as her customers were. - 2020 July 26, Sam Jones, “'Everyone is panicking': UK quarantine decision shocks Britons...
  3. To stymie, thwart, cripple, paralyze.
    • After a lacklustre campaign that has failed to grapple with Germany’s looming problems, the world should expect post-election coalition talks to last for months, poleaxing European politics while they drag on. - 2021...

Forms

poleaxes poleaxing poleaxed poleax pole-axe pollaxe pollax polax