See Also: poleaxe(dictionary)

poleaxe (iou)



poleaxe noun & verb. Also *poleax. ME.
[Middle Dutch pol(l)aex, Middle Low German pol(l)exe, from pol(le) POLL noun1 + aex AXE noun1; later assoc. with POLE noun1.]
A. noun.
Chiefly Hist. A battleaxe. Also, a short-handled axe used in naval warfare for boarding, cutting ropes, etc. ME.
Chiefly Hist. A halberd or similar long-handled weapon carried by a royal bodyguard. M16.
A butcher's axe, having a hammer at the back of the head and used to fell animals. E18.
b. verb trans. Fell with or as with a poleaxe. Freq. fig. L19.
A. Haley The man crumpled without a sound as if he had been poleaxed. L. Kennedy Poleaxed by this nonsense.