axe
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: business
entertainment
finance
lifestyle
music
Etymology: 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”).
Inflected forms:
form: axes
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: ax
pos: noun
tags: alternative
US
form: axes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: axing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: axeing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: axed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: axed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: ax
pos: verb
tags: alternative
US
Senses:
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
gloss: An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
pos: noun
gloss: A dismissal or rejection.
pos: noun
tags: informal
examples: His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.
gloss: A drastic reduction or cutback.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: 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
But P'u-yi was nothing if not soft when it came to family, and he arranged for the young man to live with his uncle Beitzu P'u-hsiu in P'u-yi's old house in T'ien-ching. So Yü-t'ai was well clear of Ch'ang-ch'un when the axe fell in 1945.
Back in 1963, how could Beeching advocate closure of the electrified Liverpool-Southport commuter route, just because its books didn't balance? The busy North London line between Richmond and Broad Street was also for the axe, as was Leeds to Bradford and Ilkley.
gloss: A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
pos: noun
tags: slang
gloss: A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: To fell or chop with an axe.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: 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.
On Wednesday, GSMA, which organises the congress, was forced to admit it would have to axe this year’s event after more than 40 companies pulled out citing health and safety concerns.
The Department for Transport axed TfL's central grant in 2015, when Boris Johnson was London mayor.
Related words: adze
hatchet
twibill
Derived words: 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
curtle-axe
dagger-axe
give the axe
greataxe
Hagen axe
hand axe
have an axe to grind
ice axe
ice-axe
mad as a meat axe
man with the axe
meat axe
moot-axe
pick-axe
pole-axe
poleaxe
take an axe to
throwing axe
tomax
Translations: