ax 1 of 2

variants or axe
as in dismissal
the termination of the employment of an employee or a work force often temporarily the company was hemorrhaging money, so 700 employees would soon be given the ax

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

ax

2 of 2

verb

variants or axe

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ax
Noun
Tulsa King Season 3 has added Kevin Pollak (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) in the series-regular role of Special Agent Musso, an FBI agent who has an axe to grind, our sister site Variety reports. Vlada Gelman, TVLine, 5 May 2025 Defense & National Security The Big Story Hegseth wants to take axe to top military brass Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military to be cut by at least 20 percent. Ellen Mitchell, The Hill, 5 May 2025
Verb
The school also axed the Asian-Pacific Forum Club, The Contemporary Cultural Affairs Seminar Club, The Japanese Forum Club, The Korean-American Relations Seminar, The Latin Cultural Club, The Native American Heritage Forum and The Vietnamese-American Cadet Association. Brianna Keilar, CNN Money, 22 May 2025 And Todd Blanche, who has been hired to replace Perlmutter’s boss Carla Hayden as Librarian of Congress (also just axed by Trump), is helping lead the Justice Department’s case against Google over the company’s dominance in search. Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for ax
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ax
Noun
  • Secretary Kristi Noem welcomed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the department for sending migrants to Guantánamo Bay.
    Filip Timotija, The Hill, 23 May 2025
  • Despite widespread doubt following the dismissal of Malone, the Nuggets, led by the Adelman and his staff, exceeded expectations.
    Ricardo Klein, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 May 2025
Verb
  • Paulo Fonseca was sacked in December, while the end of the season saw the club decide to end Sergio Conceicao’s tenure after an eighth-place finish.
    Adam Digby, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
  • Former Porto head coach Conceicao was sacked after just five months in charge on Thursday following a disappointing eighth place finish in Serie A that saw the club miss out on European qualification for 2025-26.
    James Horncastle, New York Times, 30 May 2025
Noun
  • Hiring freezes, furloughs and layoffs may seem dramatic for a city that only a few short years ago had 16% fiscal reserves, but taking action today will forestall more dramatic cuts should the economy take a turn for the worse.
    The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 23 May 2025
  • Layoffs, furloughs and a declining business outlook may reduce household income.
    Catherine Brock, Forbes.com, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • The Suns fired 2022 Coach of the Year Monty Williams that summer, replacing him with Frank Vogel — who had just won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers two years prior.
    Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 May 2025
  • Data displayed on SpaceX's live broadcast of the launch showed all 33 of the rocket's engines fired normally during its initial ascent from Texas, a reassuring sign for the reliability of the Super Heavy booster.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 May 2025
Verb
  • To remove that barrier, managers can ensure their team receives basic AI literacy and capability training.
    Heide Abelli, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
  • The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent a licensed trapper to remove the injured alligator, officials said.
    Mark Price, Miami Herald, 2 June 2025
Verb
  • Congressional Republicans, many of whom had also grown annoyed with Musk over the last few months, have largely dismissed the billionaire’s fiery opposition to the bill.
    Phil Mattingly, CNN Money, 6 June 2025
  • For example, recent reports about the potential for automotive production to be curtailed due to rare earth mineral shortages should not be dismissed.
    Zev Fima, CNBC, 6 June 2025
Verb
  • Last Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security took the extraordinary step of terminating Harvard’s certification to enroll international students; Harvard is suing the D.H.S., and a federal judge has halted the department’s effort.
    Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 25 May 2025
  • The agreement also grants Prospect permission from the state’s Office of Health Strategy, or OHS, to terminate Rockville’s status as a full-service acute care hospital and convert it into a satellite campus of Manchester Memorial Hospital, located 20 minutes away.
    Katy Golvala, Hartford Courant, 24 May 2025
Verb
  • After releasing a mobile version of Photoshop on iPhone earlier this year, the promised Android release has finally arrived.
    Stephen Clark – Jun 3, ArsTechnica, 3 June 2025
  • Similarly, the requirement for iPadOS 16 means the latest YouTube update won’t run on the iPad Air 2 (released in 2014) and iPad mini 4, first sold in 2015.
    David Phelan, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Ax.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ax. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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