as in sacking
to let go from office, service, or employment
the boss will ax anyone who leaks company secrets
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Recent Examples of axing
For the first time since temporarily axing the base model WRX for 2025, Subaru regained traction with its sport compact, with sales jumping 50% from a year ago.
—
Byron Hurd, The Drive, 4 June 2026
More than a dozen are rumored to be on his shortlist for axing, after several more were voluntarily killed or amended to avoid the gallows.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 15 May 2026
Brendan McDermid | Reuters Amazon is axing its Rufus chatbot and making its Alexa assistant the centerpiece of its artificial intelligence shopping strategy.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 13 May 2026
Amazon has been laying off staff en masse this year, axing over 16,000 employees in 2026 so far.
—Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 2 May 2026
The city is also contemplating axing more than 94 vacant jobs.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 29 Apr. 2026
The biggest headline in Europe this week was German airline Lufthansa axing 20,000 flights through October.
—Jordan Blum, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
Membership perks are also changing, with the city axing unlimited play time for annual members and removing reserved tee times that were always set aside for several longstanding golf associations in the city.
—Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2026
Of course, dozens of companies have been axing staff and restructuring for a digital future, which is perhaps the BBC’s biggest challenge.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 17 Apr. 2026
Byron Hurd, The Drive, 4 June 2026
More than a dozen are rumored to be on his shortlist for axing, after several more were voluntarily killed or amended to avoid the gallows.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 15 May 2026
Brendan McDermid | Reuters Amazon is axing its Rufus chatbot and making its Alexa assistant the centerpiece of its artificial intelligence shopping strategy.
—Annie Palmer, CNBC, 13 May 2026
Amazon has been laying off staff en masse this year, axing over 16,000 employees in 2026 so far.
—Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 2 May 2026
The city is also contemplating axing more than 94 vacant jobs.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 29 Apr. 2026
The biggest headline in Europe this week was German airline Lufthansa axing 20,000 flights through October.
—Jordan Blum, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026
Membership perks are also changing, with the city axing unlimited play time for annual members and removing reserved tee times that were always set aside for several longstanding golf associations in the city.
—Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2026
Of course, dozens of companies have been axing staff and restructuring for a digital future, which is perhaps the BBC’s biggest challenge.
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 17 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for axing
Verb
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Villa’s then sporting director Monchi reportedly attempting a straight swap of him for goalkeeper Emi Martinez last summer is a sacking offence (perhaps literally).—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
26 May 2026
-
Giants linebacker Abdul Carter didn’t waste any time sacking his own quarterback.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
23 May 2026
Verb
-
By removing the liquid filling stage entirely and accelerating the subsequent chemical formation and aging protocols, the production timeline for these steps is shortened by two-thirds.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
13 June 2026
-
Make 4- to 6-inch-long cuttings by sipping off the ends of the shoots and removing a few bottom leaves.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 June 2026
Verb
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That included dismissing all claims against the Herald defendants and Mayor Wu.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
14 June 2026
-
Media covered the story briefly before dismissing it as youthful overreaction or isolated activism.—
Steve Denning,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Verb
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One such post targeting the wife of a Dooley operative led to Collins firing a top political aide responsible for the post.—
Tia Mitchell,
AJC.com,
17 June 2026
-
Tunisia have appointed Herve Renard as their new head coach after firing Sabri Lamouchi just one game into the World Cup.—
Sam Joseph,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
Verb
-
Silverton has trailblazed a career through the food industry, but has no plans of retiring anytime soon.—
Stephanie Breijo,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2026
-
In 2018, Rita Ferro succeeded the retiring Erhardt as the ESPN sales boss under a new title (president, Disney ad sales).—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
16 June 2026
Verb
-
In 2018, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an investigative journalist famous for wearing a beaded mask to hide his identity, exposed just how deep Ghana’s football problems ran by releasing a documentary that was screened at cinemas and theatres across the country.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
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But the White House is moving ahead with releasing details to the public, and on Wednesday, senior administration officials read out each line of the understanding to reporters.—
Mabinty Quarshie,
The Washington Examiner,
17 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Axing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/axing. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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