Definition of "axe" in English

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
   • The tractor plant is slated for the axe.

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.

noun

1. (archaic) The axle of a wheel.

verb

1. To furnish with an axle.

verb

1. (now obsolete outside dialects, especially African-American Vernacular) Alternative form of ask.