noun

• (informal) A dismissal or rejection.
  "His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe."
• (figurative) A drastic reduction or cutback.
  "the Beeching Axe"
• (slang, music) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
• (finance) A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.
  "A financial dealer has an axe in a stock that his buyers don't know about, giving him an advantage in making the most profit."

verb

• (transitive) To fell or chop with an axe.
• (transitive, figurative) To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
  "The government announced its plans to axe public spending."

noun

• (archaic) The axle of a wheel.

verb

• (now obsolete outside dialects, especially African-American Vernacular) Alternative form of ask.
  "Axe and it ſhalbe geven you. Seke and ye ſhall fynd / Knocke and it ſhalbe opened vnto you."