hatchet
pronunciation
How to pronounce hatchet in British English:
UK [ˈhætʃɪt]
How to pronounce hatchet in American English:
US [ˈhætʃɪt]
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- Noun:
- weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American indians
- short ax used to chop wood
Word Origin
- hatchet (n.)
- c. 1300 (mid-12c. in surnames), "small axe with a short handle," designed to be used by one hand, from Old French hachete "small combat-axe, hatchet," diminutive of hache "axe, battle-axe, pickaxe," possibly from Frankish *happja or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *hapjo- (cognates: Old High German happa "sickle, scythe"), from PIE root *kop- "to beat, strike" (cognates: Greek kopis "knife;" Lithuanian kaplys "hatchet," kapoti "cut small;" Old Church Slavonic skopiti "castrate"). Hatchet-face in reference to one with sharp and prominent features is from 1650s. 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).
Example
- 1. Cried little george . " I chopped the tree down with my hatchet . "
- 2. The man , who sustained cuts to his neck and upper shoulder , also told investigators that his 43-year-old wife attacked him with a hatchet .
- 3. Investigators found a bloody reciprocating saw on the bedroom floor and a hatchet , which was still wet , seemingly fresh from a wash , atop an upper shelf in the kitchen , according to the herald .
- 4. When george washington was quite a little boy , his father gave him a hatchet .