An axe (also spelled ax) is a tool with a heavy metal blade attached to a handle, designed for chopping wood. The blade's sharp edge does the cutting, while the weight behind it provides the force. When someone swings an axe at a log, they're using both the sharpness and the momentum to split the wood apart.

For thousands of years, axes were essential tools for survival. People used them to cut down trees for building shelters, to split firewood for cooking and warmth, and to clear land for farming. A skilled woodsman could fell a massive tree, trim its branches, and split it into usable lumber, all with the same axe. Today, while we have power saws and other machines, many people still use axes for camping, cutting firewood, or working in forests.

The word also appears in expressions: when a company axes jobs, it eliminates positions. When someone has an axe to grind, they're nursing a grudge or complaint they keep bringing up. And if you're told you got the axe, you're being fired or cut from something.

Axes come in different types for different jobs. A hatchet is a small, one-handed axe. A splitting maul has an especially heavy head for splitting logs. A felling axe is designed specifically for chopping down trees.