hatchet

[hach-it] /ˈhætʃ ɪt/

noun

a small, short-handled ax having the end of the head opposite the blade in the form of a hammer, made to be used with one hand.

a tomahawk.

hatchetfish.

verb (used with object)

to cut, destroy, kill, etc., with a hatchet.

to abridge, delete, excise, etc.:

The network censor may hatchet 30 minutes from the script.

Idioms

bury the hatchet, to become reconciled or reunited; make peace.

take up the hatchet, to begin or resume hostilities; prepare for or go to war:

The natives are taking up the hatchet against the enemy.

Origin

1300-50; 1670-80, Americanism for def 6; Middle English hachet < Middle French hachette, diminutive (see -et) of hache ax < Frankish *hapja kind of knife; akin to Greek kóptein to cut (cf. comma, syncope)

Related forms

hatchetlike, adjective

Examples from the web for hatchet

Give the hatchet a good wash first, then set the pumpkin on a safe surface and chop as you would a length of wood.
The piece was a hatchet job, designed to inspire the uniformed.
Occupant reappears with a hatchet and pounds on the brick wall.
Throw not the hatchet at the lord, he will turn the sharp edge against thee.
The sagamore took his opportunity, and having a little hatchet under his garment, therewith knocked him in the head.
There were two long gashes to the head, both of which penetrated the brain, made by a hatchet.
With a series of loud bangs, he used the hatchet to sunder the shells into pieces the size of ashtrays.
But the government, desperate to redeem a misguided promise, seems to be reaching for a hatchet instead of a scalpel.
Stories about preachers usually come in two types: hagiographies and hatchet jobs.
It is not often that one observes the birth of a neo-con hatchet job.

British Dictionary definitions for hatchet

hatchet

/ˈhætʃɪt/

noun

a short axe used for chopping wood, etc

a tomahawk

(modifier) of narrow dimensions and sharp features: a hatchet face

bury the hatchet, to cease hostilities and become reconciled

Derived Forms

hatchet-like, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Old French hachette, from hache axe, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German happa knife

Word Origin and History for hatchet

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).

Idioms and Phrases with hatchet

hatchet

also see:

bury the hatchet