axe

/ æks /

noun

1. a hand tool with one side of its head forged and sharpened to a cutting edge, used for felling trees, splitting timber, etc See also hatchet
2. an axe to grind
   1. an ulterior motive
   2. a grievance
   3. a pet subject
3. the axe informal.
   1. dismissal, esp from employment; the sack (esp in the phrase get the axe )
   2. severe cutting down of expenditure, esp the removal of unprofitable sections of a public service
4. slang.
   any musical instrument, esp a guitar or horn

verb

1. to chop or trim with an axe
2. informal.
   to dismiss (employees), restrict (expenditure or services), or terminate (a project)

Word History and Origins

Origin of axe¹

Old English æx; related to Old Frisian axa, Old High German acchus, Old Norse öx, Latin ascia, Greek axinē

Example Sentences

“I was dealing with a politically motivated body. They didn't like me because of what I did to Kevin McCarthy. All of them were hand-picked by Kevin McCarthy, and they had an axe to grind.”

From Salon

Assuming Trump doesn’t axe his nomination, Kennedy wouldn’t be the lone voice to have likened Trump to Hitler in the West Wing.

From Salon

During his years in exile, he increasingly couched his policy arguments in the framework of culture war, promising to take the axe to a "woke and weaponized" federal government.

From Salon

Police say Mr Abbey led them to several items he had stolen from the campsite, including an axe, guns and a cooler.

From BBC

Payne was axed from the show but, undaunted, returned to audition again two years later.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• consume
• crush
• damage
• dismantle
• end
• eradicate
• gut
• impair
• kill
• maim
• ravage
• raze
• ruin
• sabotage
• shatter
• smash
• smash-up
• wipe out
• wreck