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.
Meaning & usage
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.
An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
A dismissal or rejection.
His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.
A drastic reduction or cutback.
the Beeching Axe
The tractor plant is slated for the axe.
A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
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.
Where this word comes from
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”).
To fell or chop with an axe.
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.
Where this word comes from
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”).
The axle of a wheel.
Where this word comes from
Derived from French axe, from Latin axis.
To furnish with an axle.
Where this word comes from
Derived from French axe, from Latin axis.
Alternative form of ask.
Where this word comes from
From Old English axian (“ask”); see ax for more.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.