The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ax \Ax\, Axe \Axe\, ([a^]ks), n. [OE. ax, axe, AS. eax, [ae]x, acas; akin to D. akse, OS. accus, OHG. acchus, G. axt, Icel. ["o]x, ["o]xi, Sw. yxe, Dan. ["o]kse, Goth. aqizi, Gr. 'axi`nh, L. ascia; not akin to E. acute.] A tool or instrument of steel, or of iron with a steel edge or blade, for felling trees, chopping and splitting wood, hewing timber, etc. It is wielded by a wooden helve or handle, so fixed in a socket or eye as to be in the same plane with the blade. The broadax, or carpenter's ax, is an ax for hewing timber, made heavier than the chopping ax, and with a broader and thinner blade and a shorter handle.
Note: The ancient battle-ax had sometimes a double edge.
Note: The word is used adjectively or in combination; as, axhead or ax head; ax helve; ax handle; ax shaft; ax-shaped; axlike.
Note: This word was originally spelt with e, axe; and so also was nearly every corresponding word of one syllable: as, flaxe, taxe, waxe, sixe, mixe, pixe, oxe, fluxe, etc. This superfluous e is not dropped; so that, in more than a hundred words ending in x, no one thinks of retaining the e except in axe. Analogy requires its exclusion here.
Note: ``The spelling ax is better on every ground, of
etymology, phonology, and analogy, than axe, which has
of late become prevalent.''
--New English Dict.
(Murray).
Ax \Ax\ ([a^]ks), v. t. & i. [OE. axien and asken. See Ask.] To ask; to inquire or inquire of.
Note: This word is from Saxon, and is as old as the English
language. Formerly it was in good use, but now is
regarded as a vulgarism. It is still dialectic in
England, and is sometimes heard among the uneducated in
the United States. ``And Pilate axide him, Art thou
king of Jewis?'' ``Or if he axea fish.''
--Wyclif.
'bdThe king axed after your Grace's welfare.''
--Pegge.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
see axe (n.).
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 n. (label en largely US) (alternative spelling of axe English) vb. (alternative spelling of axe English) Etymology 2
vb. (context now dialectal or nonstandard English) (alternative form of ask English)
WordNet
Wikipedia
Ax is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
- Adolf Ax (1906–1983), German SS-Oberführer in World War II
- Emanuel Ax (born 1949), concert pianist
- J Ax (born 1972), real name Alessandro Aleotti, Italian rapper
- James Ax (1937–2006), mathematician
- Patrick Ax (born 1979), former Dutch footballer
AX, Ax, or ax may refer to:
- Axe (or ax), a tool or weapon
Bill Eadie (born December 27, 1947) is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar. He was a high school teacher and coach at Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Ohio, and at East Liverpool, Ohio.
is a Japanese underground manga anthology. In October 2008, North American publisher Top Shelf announced that it will release a 400-page selection of underground manga stories called AX Collection, edited by Sean Michael Wilson. The first volume was nominated for "Best American Edition of Foreign Material" at the 2011 Harvey Awards. AX has featured manga artists such as Suehiro Maruo, Shinichi Abe, Nishioka Kyoudai, Naoto Yamakawa, Usamaru Furuya, Toshio Saeki, Akino Kondoh, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Toyo Kataoka.
Usage examples of "ax".
The other two aborigines, their luminous eyes aglow, drew their own axes from the back-sheaths and slipped away.
The explorers had made their voyages, planted their colonists in the West, left their sons, their axes, and their carved runes in Alata and retreated from it, leaving only legends in the land that was not for them.
Dropping the ax, Alec dashed to the gate, heaved the heavy bar out of its brackets, and pushed the doors wide.
She aimed to go for that peddler with the ax, but she forgot which hand was which, an' she takes after him with the chicken.
I cares about the two young lads we axed, about Makareta, my unborn child, Hawk, even Mary!
The only relief was a pair of crossed golden axes embroidered across his left breast.
He clenched his right hand into a fist above the golden axes on his left breast in the traditional salute of the Axe-Wielders and bowed low before Priam.
Axis bowed slightly to Jayme and Moryson, his right fist clenched over the golden axes on his breast, then he strode from the room, his boot heels clicking sharply on the stone floor.
More men than usual made a prominent display of weapon practice with their axes as the cooks hurried to prepare the evening meal.
All three turned to look for their axes, but the ground was heaving and buckling even more violently and their axes had completely disappeared underneath the loose covering of leaves and pines needles that littered the surface.
For a few heartbeats longer they stood, swords in hand, chests heaving as they fought to recover their breath, watching the ground where their axes had disappeared, hardly able to comprehend what had happened.
Whyso it is saidone day Axemen five thousand strong surrounded the Woods with their axes and tried to cut their way through.
The unspoken thought passed between themwhy had the Woods taken the axes yet let the men live to reach the Keep?
He had recognised the black uniform emblazoned with the twin axes as soon as the man had stepped into the cellar.
Your people have murdered with their axes most of the once great Avarinheim as they once murdered the Icarii and Avar.