poleax

or pole·axe

[ pohl-aks ]

noun

, plural pole·ax·es [pohl, -ak-siz].

1. a medieval shafted weapon with blade combining ax, hammer, and apical spike, used for fighting on foot.
2. an ax, usually with a hammer opposite the cutting edge, used in stunning and slaughtering animals.
3. an ax with both a blade and a hook, formerly used in naval warfare to assist sailors in boarding vessels.

verb (used with object)

, pole·axed, pole·ax·ing.

1. to strike down or kill with or as if with a poleax.

Word History and Origins

Origin of poleax¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English pollax “battle-ax,” literally, “head-ax” ( poll ¹, ax ); akin to Middle Low German polexe

Example Sentences

Who could poleax a stickball like a twelfth-grader and catch a football like Hands Down.

From Literature

The normally thorough Ms. Lawrence then compounded her error by neglecting to poleax, or at the very least smack, the insanely annoying character played by Stanley Tucci throughout “The Hunger Games.”

From Wall Street Journal

Dog-headed men prowled in packs, their poleaxes gleaming in the light of campfires.

From Literature

So were customers on more than 400 JetBlue flights, as the crippling “polar vortex” snow and cold combined with new Federal Aviation Administration rules pertaining to pilot rest to poleax the carrier’s logistics.

From Time

“Some of the American records are, shall we say, relatively soft, and she can poleax most of those,” Gross said.

From New York Times