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axe

AKS/æks/

Pluralaxes

Verbaxes, axing, axed

8 meanings of axe

Practice

  1. 1
    chopping toolnouncountable
    A tool with a heavy sharpened blade on a handle, used for chopping wood or felling trees, and also used as a weapon.

    She sharpened the axe before heading out to chop firewood.

    A sturdy axe can fell a small tree in just a few strokes.

    UsageAlso spelled ax in American English; you swing, sharpen or chop with an axe.

  2. 2
    cancelverbfigurativelytransitive
    To cancel, cut back sharply, or dismiss someone from a job, often abruptly and without mercy.

    The network plans to axe the popular show after poor ratings.

    Budget cuts forced the city to axe several after-school programs.

    UsageOf people, most often passive: he got axed, jobs were axed; fire and lay off sound more neutral.

    Similarfire, dismiss, sack, terminate, discharge

    Oppositeretain, renew, hire

    Note

    A short, violent verb that takes almost any object: public spending, a television series, even a whole trade congress, as in Mark Sweney's 2020 report that the Mobile World Congress was axed.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Mark Sweney published a report in 2020 describing Mobile World Congress as axed. theguardian.com
  3. 3
    dismissalnouncolloquial
    A dismissal from a job or a rejection, or the cancellation or sharp cutting of something such as a budget or program.

    Three senior managers got the axe in the latest reshuffle.

    The director gave the axe to half the marketing team.

    UsageMost often get the axe or give someone the axe; it covers being dropped by a partner as well as fired.

    Similarsack, boot, chop

  4. 4
    instrumentnounslangcountable
    The instrument a working musician plays on the job, typically the guitar for rock players and the saxophone for jazz players.

    He plugged in his axe and tore through the opening riff.

    The saxophonist wiped down her axe between sets.

    UsageUsually with a possessive, his axe, her axe; in formal writing name the instrument.

    Note

    Musicians' slang that treats an instrument as a working tool, the way a woodcutter treats the chopping tool.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English "ax," from Old English "æx," going back through Proto-Germanic to a possible Proto-Indo-European root meaning "sharp, pointed." Related words include German "Axt," Dutch "aks," and Latin "ascia."

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

  • English axe comes through Middle English ax from Old English æx. en.wiktionary.org
  • The word descends through Proto-Germanic, with a proposed ultimate Indo-European root meaning sharp or pointed. en.wiktionary.org
  • German Axt, Dutch aks, and Latin ascia are related words. en.wiktionary.org