axe

Etymology 1

From Middle English ax, axe, ex, from Old English æx, from Proto-West Germanic *akusi, from Proto-Germanic *akwisī, probably from a Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʷsih₂ (“axe”), from *h₂eḱ- (“sharp, pointed”). Compare German Axt, Dutch aks, Danish økse, Icelandic öxi, and also Latin ascia.

noun

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. (informal) A dismissal or rejection.
   His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe.
4. (figurative) A drastic reduction or cutback.
   the Beeching 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 (lyrics and music), “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, →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. March 8 2023, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50
5. (slang, music) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
6. (finance) A 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.

verb

1. (transitive) To fell or chop with an axe.
2. (transitive, figurative) To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
   The government announced its plans to axe public spending.
   The broadcaster axed the series because far fewer people than expected watched it.
   He got axed in the last round of firings.
   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. 2020-02-12, 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. June 17 2020, Philip Haigh, “Capital for the capital to meet London's transport needs”, in Rail, page 28

Etymology 2

noun

1. (archaic) The axle of a wheel.

verb

1. To furnish with an axle.

Etymology 3

Old English axian (“ask”); see ax for more.

verb

1. (now obsolete outside dialects, especially African-American Vernacular) Alternative 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
   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. 18 November 2013, Loren D. Estleman, Edsel, Stress, and Motown (The Detroit Novels; I), page 140