Meanings
- UKAny process tending to eliminate non-essential elements
The necessity for its maker, if he wishes to remain in business, to produce an efficient machine which shall at the same time be cheap, and therefore must be as simple as possible, has acted as a kind of "Geddes' Axe," (sic) sweeping away a number of inessential contrivances […]
1923, Rupert T. Gould, The Marine Chronometer, Holland Press, published 1960, page 209
Origin
From Sir Eric Geddes, who chaired a UK government committee charged with finding unprecedented spending cuts in the 1920s.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Geddes Axe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Geddes%20Axe
“Geddes Axe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Geddes%20Axe. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Geddes Axe,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Geddes%20Axe.
Source: Geddes Axe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.