poleaxedadj.
/ˈpəʊlakst/, U.S. /ˈpoʊlˌækst/ 1. Struck, felled, or stunned with a poleaxe. Chiefly in similative use.
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the world > life > death > killing > killing by specific method > [adjective] > poleaxed
poleaxed1851
poled1911
1851 M. F. Tupper Ballads for Times 117 And down like a pole-axed bull he drops, And weak on the threshold lies.
1917 A. Conan Doyle His Last Bow iii. 110 Giant as he was, the man must have gone down like a pole-axed ox before that terrific blow.
1967 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 57 198 The pits were filled with rubbish including numerous animal bones, some being poleaxed ox skulls.
1999 D. Nettle Linguistic Diversity p. vi She..rescued this book when it was lying like a pole-axed wildebeest on the middle of my life.
2. figurative. Stupefied, astounded, or overwhelmed.
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1983 J. Krantz Mistral's Daughter vi. 74 He was staring openly at Maggy with a look of..poleaxed yearning.
1999 T. Parsons Man & Boy (2000) xxxi. 268 The poleaxed businessmen lusting silently in their chairs all over the room as girls bent double and winked at them from between their legs.
2003 N.Y. Mag. 4 Aug. 55 Most of my tablemates wore the stunned, pole-axed look of children who'd stayed too long at an amusement park.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1851