Ax

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A hand tool with a sharp metal blade fixed to a long handle, used for chopping wood ; to strike and split timber with such a tool ; to remove someone from a job or cancel a project
2. A cutting implement consisting of a heavy blade mounted on a wooden shaft ; the act of chopping logs with that implement ; the act of firing a worker or ending a programme abruptly
3. A chopping implement with a weighted head on a handle ; to cleave wood using that implement ; to get rid of a person or drop a plan without warning

Etymology: The word "ax" is an older spelling of "ask," and the swap of its consonants is a real feature of English history. Old English had "ācsian" and "āxian," which were the ancestors of the verb, and "ax" came from the Middle English forms "axen," "aksen," and "axien." Sounds in these words shifted around in a process linguists call metathesis: the "s" and "k" changed places, producing "aks" alongside "ask" at different points in time. The "ax" spelling was common in literature until about 1600, so writers of that era used it without any sense that it was a mistake. Its use has since faded from standard English, and "ask" won out as the form we use today.

Synonyms: axe, hatchet