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Axes - 14 dictionary results
ax
[aks]
noun, plural ax⋅es [ak-siz]
, verb, axed, ax⋅ing.–noun
| 1. | an instrument with a bladed head on a handle or helve, used for hewing, cleaving, chopping, etc. |
| 2. | Jazz Slang. any musical instrument. |
| 3. | the ax, Informal.
|
–verb (used with object)
—Idiom| 4. | to shape or trim with an ax. |
| 5. | to chop, split, destroy, break open, etc., with an ax: The firemen had to ax the door to reach the fire. |
| 6. | Informal. to dismiss, restrict, or destroy brutally, as if with an ax: The main office axed those in the field who didn't meet their quota. Congress axed the budget. Also, axe. |
| 7. | have an ax to grind, to have a personal or selfish motive: His interest may be sincere, but I suspect he has an ax to grind. |
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; ax(e), ex(e), OE æx, æces; akin to Goth aquizi, ON øx, ǫx, OHG acc(h)us, a(c)kus (G Axt), MHG pl. exa < Gmc *akwiz-, akuz-, aksi- ≪ *ákəs, áks-; L ascia (< *acsiā), Gk ax
nē; < IE *ag-s-
bef. 1000; ME; ax(e), ex(e), OE æx, æces; akin to Goth aquizi, ON øx, ǫx, OHG acc(h)us, a(c)kus (G Axt), MHG pl. exa < Gmc *akwiz-, akuz-, aksi- ≪ *ákəs, áks-; L ascia (< *acsiā), Gk ax
nē; < IE *ag-s-
Related forms:
axlike, adjective
ax⋅is
1 [ak-sis]
–noun, plural ax⋅es [ak-seez]
.
. | 1. | the line about which a rotating body, such as the earth, turns. |
| 2. | Mathematics.
|
| 3. | Anatomy.
|
| 4. | Botany. the longitudinal support on which organs or parts are arranged; the stem and root; the central line of any body. |
| 5. | Analytic Geometry. any line used as a fixed reference in conjunction with one or more other references for determining the position of a point or of a series of points forming a curve or a surface. Compare x-axis, y-axis. |
| 6. | Crystallography. crystallographic axis. |
| 7. | Aeronautics. any one of three lines defining the attitude of an airplane, one being generally determined by the direction of forward motion and the other two at right angles to it and to each other. |
| 8. | Fine Arts. an imaginary line, in a given formal structure, about which a form, area, or plane is organized. |
| 9. | an alliance of two or more nations to coordinate their foreign and military policies, and to draw in with them a group of dependent or supporting powers. |
| 10. | the Axis, (in World War II) Germany, Italy, and Japan, often with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. |
| 11. | a principal line of development, movement, direction, etc. |
Related forms:
axis deer
–noun
| an Asian deer, Cervus (Axis) axis, of India and Sri Lanka, having a reddish-brown coat spotted with white. |
Also called axis, chital, spotted deer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To Axes
ax 2 (āks) v. ax·ed, ax·ing, ax·es Nonstandard Variant of ask. Our Living Language : Ax, a common nonstandard variant of ask, is often identified as an especially salient feature of African American Vernacular English. While it is true that the form is frequent in the speech of African Americans, it used to be common in the speech of white Americans as well, especially in the South and in the middle sections of the U.S. It was once common among New Englanders, but has largely died out there as a local feature. The widespread use of this pronunciation should not be surprising since ax is a very old word in English, having been used in England for over 1,000 years. In Old English we find both āscian and ācsian, and in Middle English both asken and axen. Moreover, the forms with cs or x had no stigma associated with them. Chaucer used asken and axen interchangeably, as in the lines "I wol aske, if it hir will be/To be my wyf" and "Men axed hym, what sholde bifalle," both from The Canterbury Tales. The forms in x arose from the forms in sk by a linguistic process called metathesis, in which two sounds are reversed. The x thus represents (ks), the flipped version of (sk). Metathesis is a common linguistic process around the world and does not arise from a defect in speaking. Nevertheless, ax has become stigmatized as substandard—a fate that has befallen other words, like ain't, that were once perfectly acceptable in literate circles. |
ax·es 1 (āk'sēz') n. Plural of axis. |
ax·es 2 (āk'sĭz) n. Plural of ax1. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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| axis (āk'sĭs) Pronunciation Key
Plural axes (āk'sēz')
axial adjective |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.

