Word.ws English Dictionary

taking up the hatchet

taking up the hatchet is the present participle and gerund of take up the hatchet.

Meaning of take up the hatchet

Verb

take up the hatchet (third-person singular simple present takes up the hatchet, present participle taking up the hatchet, simple past took up the hatchet, past participle taken up the hatchet)

  1. (archaic, idiomatic) To declare war or go to war.

Questions about taking up the hatchet

What is taking up the hatchet the present participle and gerund of?
Taking up the hatchet is the present participle and gerund of take up the hatchet.

Words near taking up the hatchet in the dictionary

  1. taking up residence
  2. taking up the cudgel for
  3. taking up the cudgels
  4. taking up the gantlet
  5. taking up the gauntlet
  6. taking up the hatchet
  7. taking up the mantle
  8. taking up the slack
  9. taking up with
  10. taking upon oneself
  11. taking water

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taking up the hatchet (page history and authors); take up the hatchet (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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