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poleax

 - 3 dictionary results

pole⋅ax

  [pohl-aks] noun, plural -ax⋅es  [-ak-siz] , verb, -axed, -ax⋅ing.
Use poleax in a Sentence
–noun
1. a medieval shafted weapon with blade combining ax, hammer, and apical spike, used for fighting on foot.
2. an ax, usually with a hammer opposite the cutting edge, used in stunning and slaughtering animals.
3. an ax with both a blade and a hook, formerly used in naval warfare to assist sailors in boarding vessels.
–verb (used with object)
4. to strike down or kill with or as if with a poleax.
Origin:
1300–50; ME pollax battle-ax, lit., head-ax (see poll 1 , ax ); akin to MLG polexe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pole·ax or pole·axe   (pōl'āks')   
n.  

  1. An ax having a hammer face opposite the blade, used to slaughter cattle.

  2. A medieval battle-ax consisting of a long shaft ending in an ax or a combination of an ax, hammer, and pick.

tr.v.   pole·axed, pole·ax·ing, pole·ax·es
To strike or fell with or as if with a poleax: "When a gang of doves circled above the flowing water and swooped in to feed, he poleaxed the leader with a clean head shot" (William Hoffman).

[Middle English, alteration (influenced by pole, long piece of wood) of pollax : poll, head; see poll + ax, ax; see 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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Word Origin & History

poleax 
"kind of axe used as a weapon or by butchers," c.1300, pollax, from pol "head" (see poll) + ax. From notion of either beheading or head-splitting. Spelling alt. 17c. by confusion with pole (1)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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