hatchet

CEFRC1

/ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small axe with a short handle.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.

Examples

  • He used a small hatchet to chop wood for the campfire.

  • Isn't it about time you guys buried the hatchet and let bygones be bygones?

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To cut with a hatchet.

  2. A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.

More examples

In context

  • The owners brought in a hatchet man to fire all the union sympathizers.

  • to bury the hatchet

  • Buried was the bloody hatchet, / Buried was the dreadful war-club, / Buried were all warlike weapons, / And the war-cry was forgotten.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He used a sharp blank to chop the firewood into small pieces.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English hachet, a borrowing from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache (“axe”), from Vulgar Latin *happia, from Frankish *happjā, from Proto-Germanic *hapjǭ, *habjǭ (“knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *kop- (“to strike, to beat”). Cognate with Old High German happa, heppa, habba (“reaper, sickle”), German Hippe (“billhook”), Dutch heep, hiep (“billhook”), and Ancient Greek κοπίς (kopís). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.