axeman
/ˈaksman
/(US also axman)
noun (plural axemen)
1A man who works, fights, or commits violent attacks with an axe: a mad axeman...
- It's that scene in The Shining when Shelley Duvall stumbles across Jack Nicholson's literary labours, just before he turns into the mad axeman.
- So there's the famous case of the mad axeman who breaks into your house and is threatening you and is asking where your children are hiding, do you tell the truth?
- I admire his bravery - I'd be worried about a mad axeman husband turning up on my door if I got up to all that.
1.1 informal A man who cuts costs drastically or ruthlessly.When he took up the job in 1992 the station was anxious, aimless and unhappy, and he was regarded with some suspicion as a London-anointed axeman who had come to slash and burn more budgets and jobs....
- The axman, as he is called by some in the firm, announced that he would cut 2,000 of the firm's thundering herd of 15,000 U.S. brokers months after taking charge of them in February, 2000.
- Besides all that deficit spending, monarchy still has powers, despite all the efforts of the axemen, budgetary and otherwise, down the centuries.
2 informal A male rock or jazz guitarist.Andy's performance was especially impressive, as the diminutive axeman shifted from chunky rockers to white-soul wah-wahs with effortless dexterity....
- Ever wondered what happened to the arch axeman of the defunct Ultrasound?
- He opens with a gorgeous study for prepared guitar, but the bulk of the record is given over to duets with fellow axemen.