Axes and axes are two words that are spelled identically but are pronounced differently and have different meanings, which makes them heteronyms. We will examine the definitions of the words axes and axes, where these words came from, and a few examples of their use in sentences.
Axes (ACKS ez) is a noun that means more than one axe. An axe is a chopping tool that typically is composed of a steel or iron head and a wooden handle. Axes is also a verb, meaning to cut something with an axe or to eliminate or end something. Related words are axe, axed, axing. The word axe is derived from the Old English word æx, which means pickaxe or hatchet.
Axes (ACKS eez) is a noun that means more than one axis. An axis is an imaginary line that runs through the middle of a body or an imaginary line around which a body rotates. The word axis is derived from the Latin word axis, which means a pivot or an axle.
Examples
NHS axes 2,000 test and trace jobs: Contact tracers are cut despite coronavirus infections soaring (The Daily Mail)
Bugaj said he doesn’t think “liquor is appropriate when throwing axes.” (The Pocono Record)
With a larger and more precise observational tool, they can tune a finer and more precise metric that relies less on anisotropy—the way CMB changes along axes of observation—and more on temperature and polarization. (Popular Mechanics)
Now, scientists have defined two main axes along which brain regions are genetically organized, stretching from posterior to anterior and inferior to superior in the brain. (Science Daily)