axe

See also: Axe, -axe, axé, and áx̱e

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Ayerrerenge with x as a placeholder.

Symbol

axe

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Ayerrerenge.

See also

  • Wiktionary’s coverage of Ayerrerenge terms

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: ăks, IPA(key): /æks/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æks
  • Homophones: acts, ask (some dialects)

Etymology 1

An axe

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”).

Alternative forms

Noun

axe (plural axes)

  1. 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.
  2. An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
  3. (informal, with the) A dismissal or rejection.
    Synonyms: chop, pink slip, sack, boot
    His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.
  4. (figurative) A drastic reduction or cutback.
    the Beeching Axe
    The tractor plant is slated for the axe.
    • 1975, Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”, in Blood on the Tracks:
      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
    • 1994, Tony Scotland, The Empty Throne: The Quest for an Imperial Heir in the People's Republic of China‎[2], Penguin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 103:
      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.
    • 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50:
      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.
  5. (slang, music) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
  6. (finance) 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.
Usage notes
  • In the United States, a few spell the weapon axe and the tool ax to distinguish them; though most people use the same spelling for both senses.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Bislama: akis
  • Pijin: akis
  • Tok Pisin: akis
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also

Verb

axe (third-person singular simple present axes, present participle axing or axeing, simple past and past participle axed)

  1. (transitive) To fell or chop with an axe.
  2. (transitive, figurative) To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
    Synonyms: downsize, fire, lay off; see also Thesaurus:lay off
    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.
    • 2020 February 12, Mark Sweney, “Mobile World Congress axed after firms quit over coronavirus fears”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 October 2026:
      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.
    • 2020 June 17, Philip Haigh, “Capital for the capital to meet London's transport needs”, in Rail, page 28:
      The Department for Transport axed TfL's central grant in 2015, when Boris Johnson was London mayor.
Translations

Etymology 2

Derived from French axe, from Latin axis.

Alternative forms

Noun

axe (plural axes)

  1. (archaic) The axle of a wheel.

Verb

axe (third-person singular simple present axes, present participle axing, simple past and past participle axed)

  1. To furnish with an axle.

Etymology 3

From Old English axian (“ask”); see ax for more.

Verb

axe (third-person singular simple present axes, present participle axing, simple past and past participle axed)

  1. (now obsolete outside dialects, especially African-American Vernacular) Alternative form of ask.
    • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Mathew vij:[7], folio ix, recto:
      Axe and it ſhalbe geven you. Seke and ye ſhall fynd / Knocke and it ſhalbe opened vnto you.
    • 1904, Jr. John Fox, “The Army of the Callahan”, in Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories‎[4]:
      I axe you—have I said one word about that little matter to-day?
    • 2013 November 18, Loren D. Estleman, Edsel, Stress, and Motown (The Detroit Novels; I)‎[5], →ISBN, page 140:
      I axe him to sit down and drink some of my wine, but he says no thanks, he just come to axe me a question.

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

    Learned borrowing from Latin axis. Compare the inherited doublet ais.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    axe m (plural axes)

    1. axis
    2. axle

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • → Turkish: aks

    Further reading

    Galician

    Etymology 1

    Unknown. Cognate with Spanish aje.[1]

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈaʃɪ]

    Noun

    axe m (plural axes)

    1. ache
    2. affront
      Synonym: afronta

    References

    1. ^ Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1983–1991), “aje”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎[1] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    axe

    1. inflection of axar:
      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
      2. third-person singular imperative
    2. inflection of axir:
      1. third-person singular present indicative
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Halkomelem

    Noun

    axe

    1. alternative spelling of áx̱e

    Source

    Interlingua

    Noun

    axe (plural axes)

    1. An axis, a straight line that crosses the center of a body and around which it turns.
    2. An axle, a bar connecting parallel wheels of a kart, wagon, etc.

    Latin

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    axe

    1. ablative singular of axis

    Middle English

    Etymology 1

    Noun

    axe

    1. (MS. Cotton Otho C.xiii, Herefordshire) alternative form of asche (“burnt matter”)

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    axe

    1. alternative form of aske (“request”)

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    axe

    1. alternative form of ax

    Etymology 4

    Alternative forms

    Noun

    axe

    1. dative singular of ax

    Etymology 5

    Verb

    axe

    1. alternative form of asken (“to ask”)

    Old English

    Noun

    axe f

    1. alternative form of æsċe
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