GET THE AX Definition & Meaning

get the ax

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, get the boot or bounce or can or heave-ho or hook or sack . Be discharged or fired, expelled, or rejected. For example, He got the ax at the end of the first week , or The manager was stunned when he got the boot himself , or We got the bounce in the first quarter , or The pitcher got the hook after one inning , or Bill finally gave his brother-in-law the sack . All but the last of these slangy expressions date from the 1870s and 1880s. They all have variations using give that mean “to fire or expel someone,” as in Are they giving Ruth the ax? Get the ax alludes to the executioner's ax , and get the boot to literally booting or kicking someone out. Get the bounce alludes to being bounced out; get the can comes from the verb can , “to dismiss,” perhaps alluding to being sealed in a container; get the heave-ho alludes to heave in the sense of lifting someone bodily, and get the hook is an allusion to a fishing hook. Get the sack , first recorded in 1825, probably came from French though it existed in Middle Dutch. The reference here is to a workman's sac (“bag”) in which he carried his tools and which was given back to him when he was fired. Also see give someone the air .

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Nevertheless, sometimes a high-scoring trick has to get the ax.

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At a time when a number of Latino-led TV shows are among the first to get the ax or taken off of streaming services, "Blue Beetle" is pushing back against corporate mandates and DEI initiatives that have failed to lead to more Latino creative talent in the entertainment industry.

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“By the way, Tucker Carlson isn’t the only cable news anchor to get the ax. CNN just fired Don Lemon after 17 New Year’s Eve blackouts — sorry, years of service.”

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The first parenting style to get the ax was my personal favorite — the “routine.”

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Amazon is shuttering more projects, with a digital travel experience and a high-performance robotic system the most recent to get the ax.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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get the ax

Idioms and Phrases

Example Sentences