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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

axe

/æks/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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What does axe mean?

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.
More meanings (10)

noun

  1. (figuratively) A drastic reduction or cutback.
  2. (slang) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
  3. A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.
  4. (archaic) The axle of a wheel.

verb

  1. To fell or chop with an axe.
  2. (figuratively) To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
  3. To furnish with an axle.
  4. (obsolete) Alternative form of ask.

proper noun

  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.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/æks/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Besides being well shod each carried an alpenstock, and for special difficulties we had a hundred feet of rope and an axe.
John MuirSteep TrailsProject Gutenberg ebook #326
As we pass this clearing, the settler leans upon his axe or hammer, and looks wistfully at the people from the world.
Charles DickensAmerican NotesProject Gutenberg ebook #675
More book examples (3)
She seizes an axe or hatchet near at hand, with which she breaks open door or window to let her darlings escape.
Carry Amelia NationThe Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. NationProject Gutenberg ebook #1485
"I'm looking for the axe that fell into the water just at this notch, as I was coming down river," says SALEH.
Charles Hose; William McDougallThe Pagan Tribes of Borneo A Description of Their Physical Moral and Intellectual Condition, with Some Discussion of Their Ethnic RelationsProject Gutenberg ebook #3307
While working at some wood-cutting a man was struck on a heavy boot by a snake, which he killed with an axe.
George M. (George Milbrey) Gould; Walter L. (Walter Lytle) PyleAnomalies and Curiosities of MedicineProject Gutenberg ebook #747