Word.ws English Dictionary

giving the axe

giving the axe is the present participle and gerund of give the axe.

Meaning of give the axe

Verb

give the axe (third-person singular simple present gives the axe, present participle giving the axe, simple past gave the axe, past participle given the axe)

  1. (idiomatic, informal) To fire (dismiss from employment).

Questions about giving the axe

What is giving the axe the present participle and gerund of?
Giving the axe is the present participle and gerund of give the axe.

Words near giving the axe in the dictionary

  1. giving something a try
  2. giving something a whirl
  3. giving something up as a bad job
  4. giving suck
  5. giving the ax
  6. giving the axe
  7. giving the bird
  8. giving the devil his due
  9. giving the dirts
  10. giving the elbow
  11. giving the finger

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving the axe (page history and authors); give the axe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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