axe

plural axes · alternative US ax

1. A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it.
2. An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
3. informalA dismissal or rejection.

   His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.

   Synonyms: chop, pink slip, sack, boot

4. figurativelyA drastic reduction or cutback.

   the Beeching Axe

   4 more examples

   The tractor plant is slated for the axe.

   I had a job in the great North Woods Workin' as a cook for a spell But I never did like it all that much And one day the axe just fell

   1975, Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”, in Blood on the Tracks

   But P'u-yi was nothing if not soft when it came to family, and he arranged for the young man to live with his uncle Beitzu P'u-hsiu in P'u-yi's old house in T'ien-ching. So Yü-t'ai was well clear of Ch'ang-ch'un when the axe fell in 1945.

   1994, Tony Scotland, The Empty Throne: The Quest for an Imperial Heir in the People's Republic of China, Penguin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 103

   Back in 1963, how could Beeching advocate closure of the electrified Liverpool-Southport commuter route, just because its books didn't balance? The busy North London line between Richmond and Broad Street was also for the axe, as was Leeds to Bradford and Ilkley.

   2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50

5. slangentertainmentA gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
6. businessA position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.

   A financial dealer has an axe in a stock that his buyers don't know about, giving him an advantage in making the most profit.

present singular third person axes · participle present axing · participle present axeing · participle past axed · past axed · alternative US ax

1. transitiveTo fell or chop with an axe.
2. figurativelytransitiveTo lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.

   He got axed in the last round of firings.

   4 more examples

   The government announced its plans to axe public spending.

   The broadcaster axed the series because far fewer people than expected watched it.

   On Wednesday, GSMA, which organises the congress, was forced to admit it would have to axe this year’s event after more than 40 companies pulled out citing health and safety concerns.

   2020 February 12, Mark Sweney, “Mobile World Congress axed after firms quit over coronavirus fears”, in The Guardian

   The Department for Transport axed TfL's central grant in 2015, when Boris Johnson was London mayor.

   2020 June 17, Philip Haigh, “Capital for the capital to meet London's transport needs”, in Rail, page 28

   Synonyms: downsize, fire, lay off, can, decruit, dehire, discard, remove

plural axes · alternative US ax

1. archaicThe axle of a wheel.

present singular third person axes · participle present axing · participle past axed · past axed · alternative US ax

1. To furnish with an axle.

present singular third person axes · participle present axing · participle past axed · past axed

1. alternativedialectalobsoleteespecially African-American VernacularAlternative form of ask.

   I axe you—have I said one word about that little matter to-day?

   1904, Jr. John Fox, “The Army of the Callahan”, in Christmas Eve on Lonesome and Other Stories

   2 more examples

   Axe and it ſhalbe geven you. Seke and ye ſhall fynd / Knocke and it ſhalbe opened vnto you.

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Mathew vij:[7], folio ix, recto

   I axe him to sit down and drink some of my wine, but he says no thanks, he just come to axe me a question.

   2013 November 18, Loren D. Estleman, Edsel, Stress, and Motown (The Detroit Novels; I), →ISBN, page 140

1. A river in Dorset, Somerset, and east Devon, England, which flows into Lyme Bay at Seaton.
2. A river in Somerset, England, which flows into the Bristol Channel at Weston-super-Mare.