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axe 1 or ax (ăks)
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n. pl. ax·es (ăksĭz)
1. A tool with a bladed, usually heavy head mounted crosswise on a handle, used for felling trees or chopping wood.
2. Any of various bladed, handheld implements used as a cutting tool or weapon.
3. Informal A sudden termination of employment: My colleague got the axe yesterday.
4. Slang A musical instrument, especially a guitar.
tr.v. axed, ax·ing, ax·es
1. To chop or fell with or as if with an axe: axed down the saplings; axed out a foothold in the ice.
2. Informal To remove ruthlessly or suddenly: a social program that was axed to effectuate budget cuts.
Idiom:
axe to grind
A selfish or ulterior aim: He claimed to be disinterested, but I knew he had an axe to grind.
[Middle English, from Old English æx.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
axe 2 (ăks) Nonstandard
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v.
Variant of ax2.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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