<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>an instrument with a bladed head on a handle or helve, used for hewing, cleaving, chopping, etc.</li><li>Jazz Slang: any musical instrument.</li><li>the ax: Informal; dismissal from employment: to get the ax.</li><li>expulsion from school.</li><li>rejection by a lover, friend, etc.: His girlfriend gave him the ax.</li><li>any usually summary removal or curtailment.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>to shape or trim with an ax.</li><li>to chop, split, destroy, break open, etc., with an ax: The firemen had to ax the door to reach the fire.</li><li>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.</li><li>Congress axed the budget.</li></ul>