| axe |  | |
| 1. subst. 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. subst. An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle. | |
| 3. subst. (informal) A dismissal or rejection. | |
| His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe. | |
| 4. subst. (slang) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz. | |
| 5. subst. (finance) A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives., Risk magazine | |
| 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. | |
| 6. v. To fell or chop with an axe. | |
| 7. v. To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner. | |
| 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. | |
| 8. subst. (archaic) The axle of a wheel. | |
| 9. v. To furnish with an axle. | |
| 10. v. (now obsolete, outside, dialects, especially, AAVE) alternative form of ask | |
