axe
noun /æks/
/æks/
(US English usually ax)
Idioms - a tool with a wooden handle and a heavy metal blade, used for cutting up wood, cutting down trees, etc.
enlarge imageExtra Examplessee also battleaxe, ice axe, pickaxeTopics Gardensc1- to chop a tree down with an axe
- The executioner's axe fell.
- With a few swift blows of the axe, she severed the cable.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + axe- brandish
- carry
- heft
- …
- fall
- with an/the axe
- a blow from an axe
- a blow of an axe
- the axe[singular] (informal) (often used in newspapers) if somebody gets the axe, they lose their job; if an institution or a project gets the axe, it is closed or stopped, usually because of a lack of money
- Up to 300 workers are facing the axe at a struggling Merseyside firm.
- Patients are delighted their local hospital has been saved from the axe.
- Protesters, anxious over the spending cuts, urged councillors to think again before wielding the axe.
Extra Examples- His prime-time TV show is likely to get the axe.
- We were expecting bad news but had no idea where the axe would fall.
- Wielding the axe on the prison plan would be one way of saving money.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + the axe- be given
- get
- swing
- …
- fall
Word OriginOld English æx, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch aaks and German Axt.
Idioms
have an axe to grind
- to have private reasons for being involved in something or for arguing for a particular cause
- She had no axe to grind and was only acting out of concern for their safety.
- These criticisms are commonly voiced by those who have some political axe to grind.