Definition of Give the axe

1. Verb. Terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position. "The company terminated 25% of its workers"


2. Verb. Terminate a relationship abruptly. "Mary gave John the axe after she saw him with another woman"
Exact synonyms: Give The Bounce, Give The Gate
Generic synonyms: Break, Break Up, Part, Separate, Split, Split Up

Lexicographical Neighbors of Give The Axe

give someone his head
give someone the business
give someone the chair
give someone the creeps
give someone the eye
give someone the slipper
give someone what for
give something a go
give something a miss
give something a try
give something up as a bad job
give stick
give suck
give thanks
give the axe (current term)
give the boot
give the bounce
give the devil his due
give the elbow
give the eye
give the finger
give the gate
give the glad eye
give the lie to
give the once over
give the sack
give the store away
give the time of day
give thought

Literary usage of Give the axe

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Manual of Forestry by William Schlich (1908)
"In order to give the axe a sharp edge, a wedge- shaped piece of steel is placed between the thin iron ends, and they are then welded together, ..."

2. Schlich's Manual of Forestry by William Schlich (1908)
"In order to give the axe a sharp edge, a wedge- shaped piece of steel is placed between the thin iron ends, and they are then welded together, ..."

3. Rural Affairs by John Jacob Thomas (1869)
"If the trees are quite bushy or spreading, it will be best to give the axe a long handle, so that the operator may do the work without fear of being ..."

4. The Illustrated Annual Register of Rural Affairs and Cultivator Almanac for by John Jacob Thomas (1867)
"If the trees are quite bushy or spreading, it will be best to give the axe a long handle, so that the operator may do the work without fear of being ..."

5. Among Cannibals: An Account of Four Years' Travels in Australia and of Camp by Carl Lumholtz (1889)
"Though I was stronger than they, still they brought a tree down more rapidly, because they understood how to give the axe more force. ..."

6. Troja: Results of the Latest Researches and Discoveries on the Site of Homer by Heinrich Schliemann, Archibald Henry Sayce (1884)
"It is well polished and expanding towards the edge ; on all its four sides there are two slightly concave bands, o'oi m. wide, which give the axe a very ..."

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