axe

Universal Words noun, verb noun (especially BrE) (AmE usually ax) 1 a tool with a wooden handle and a heavy metal blade, used for chopping wood, cutting down trees, etc. seealsoBATTLEAXE, ICEAXE, PICKAXE 2 (the axe) [sing.] (informal) if sb gets the axe, they lose their job; if an institution or a project gets the axe, it is closed or stopped, usually because of a lack of money: Up to 300 workers are facing the axe at a struggling Merseyside firm. * Patients are delighted their local hospital has been saved from the axe. * Protesters, anxious over the spending cuts, urged councillors to think again before wielding the axe. IDIOMS have an axe to grind to have private reasons for being involved in sth or for arguing for a particular cause: She had no axe to grind and was only acting out of concern for their safety. * These criticisms are commonly voiced by those who have some political axe to grind. verb (BrE) (AmE ax) [VN] [oftenpassive] 1 to get rid of a service, system, etc. or to reduce the money spent on it by a large amount: Other less profitable services are to be axed later this year. 2 to remove sb from their job: Jones has been axed from the team. 3 to kill sb with an axe