Synonyms for hatchet

Grammar : Noun

Spell : hach-it

Phonetic Transcription : ˈhætʃ ɪt

Définition of hatchet

Origin : c.1300 "small ax" (mid-12c. in surnames), from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache "ax, battle-axe, pickaxe," possibly from Frankish *happja or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hæbijo (cf. Old High German happa "sickle, scythe"), from PIE root *kop- "to beat, strike" (cf. Greek kopis "knife;" Lithuanian kaplys "hatchet," kapoti "cut small;" Old Church Slavonic skopiti "castrate").
In Middle English, hatch itself was used in a sense "battle-axe." In 14c., hang up (one's) hatchet meant "stop what one is doing." Phrase bury the hatchet (1794) is from a supposed Native American peacemaking custom. Hatchet-man was originally California slang for "hired Chinese assassin" (1880), later extended figuratively to journalists who attacked the reputation of a public figure (1944).

noun ax

Example sentences :

The muses, like vines, may be pruned, but not with a hatchet.
Extract from : « Joseph Andrews, Vol. 2 » by Henry Fielding

Oh, how I understood now the rascally-looking fellow, with his hatchet and tomahawk!
Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt

The next moment he threw the hatchet at me, and began to run toward me.
Extract from : « Southern Lights and Shadows » by Various

The hatchet struck my foot, and the blow roused me, and I sprang into the boat.
Extract from : « Southern Lights and Shadows » by Various

One of them was as tall as De Launay, gaunt and hatchet faced.
Extract from : « Louisiana Lou » by William West Winter

You are right; come, my friends; bring your hatchet, Johnson.
Extract from : « The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras » by Jules Verne

It was clear that the boys had buried the hatchet, so he saw no reason for being grumpy.
Extract from : « A Yankee Flier Over Berlin » by Al Avery

Isn't it about time we buried the hatchet and forgot all about that joke of mine up at Yimville?
Extract from : « Mixed Faces » by Roy Norton

Their families ate the birds, and the hencoop was split into firewood with a hatchet.
Extract from : « Amy Foster » by Joseph Conrad

Once his father set him to work with a hatchet to remove some plaster.
Extract from : « Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete » by Albert Bigelow Paine

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019