battle-axe, -ax
(ˈbæt(ə)lˌæks)
(The spelling with -ax is now chiefly U.S.)
1. A kind of axe used as a weapon of war in the Middle Ages.
| c 1380 in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) I. 367 Bow, and spier, And battle-axe, their fechting gear. 1437 Test. Ebor. (1855) II. 70 Unam loricam de optimis, et optimum batelax. 1546 Lanc. Wills II. 27 Also my batell axe w{supt}{suph} all other harnishe belongyng to my bodie. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 169 Rear'd aloft the bloody Battle axe. 1762 Hume Hist. Eng. II. (1803) xiv. 238 Cleft his adversary to the chin with a battle-ax. 1850 Prescott Peru II. 213 Long lances and battle-axes edged with copper. |
2. A halberd or bill carried by guards.
| 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4536/2 His Excellency proceeded to the Castle, attended by the Privy-Council, with the Guard of Battel-Axes. 1714 Ibid. No. 5282/6 The Company of Foot-Guards armed with Battel-axes. |
3. Archæol. A type of prehistoric stone weapon; hence applied attrib. to a neolithic culture characterized by this weapon.
| 1859 Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotl. 1856–7 II. 306 Stone Hammer or Battle Axe, formed of fine-grained mica schist. 1880 Dawkins Early Man x. 390 A bronze battle-axe fifteen inches in length and seven pounds in weight. 1925 Childe Dawn Europ. Civiliz. xii. 198 The most conspicuous weapons, the battle-axes and hammer-axes..go back to the copper age and prove the dominance of the battle-axe element in the population. 1928 C. Dawson Age of Gods xii. 268 The Battle-axe Culture. Ibid. 270 The Battle-axe People. 1931 Jrnl. R. Anthrop. Inst. LXI. 345 The process of assimilation was accelerated in Sweden and replaced in the East Baltic regions by intrusions of the battle-axe folk... Battle-axes and even battle-axe graves in the dwelling-places are the proofs of their advent. 1950 H. L. Lorimer Homer & Monum. i. 6 The Battle-axe culture commonly regarded as Indo-European. |
4. fig. A formidable or domineering woman. orig. U.S. slang, now colloq.
| 1896 Ade Artie ix. 81 Say, there was a battle-ax if ever you see one. She had a face on her that'd fade flowers. 1938 ‘E. Queen’ Four of Hearts i. ii. 25 These old female battle-axes don't feaze me. 1957 C. Brooke-Rose Languages of Love 8 Do I look like a female novelist? I thought they were all battle-axes. 1959 Punch 21 Jan. 135/3 Though slim as an arrow A girl can wax In the course of time To a battle-axe. |