ax head
- noun
- /æks hɛd/
- US
- With an axe against a straw-stuffed target, he showed how the massive axe head, at the end of a swinging arc, forced itself into the object.
Examples
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For the men, he had English ax heads, tenpenny nails, hammerheads, and belt buckles - mostly of horn, but one or two special ones of hard iron.
Fiction book (1994) -
It's the huge weight of metal in the rest of the axe head that drives that blade in to do the work.
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As a token of my appreciation, he says he has sent me this axe head protector.
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The brittle flint of the axe head was made rather thick so that it would not break too easily from the force of the blow, and a strike did not cut in deeply, but instead chipped a little away.
Fiction book (1990) -
The ax head can become dull after prolonged use, so it is important to sharpen it regularly.
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He admired the intricate design of the ancient ax head displayed in the museum.
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When splitting logs, make sure the ax head strikes the wood at the right angle for maximum effectiveness.
How Sharp
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the metal cutting part at the end of an ax' is directly and compositionally derived from 'ax' (the tool) + 'head' (the end or top part). This is a concrete, referential compound found across languages and follows regular noun-noun composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.
Etymology
The compound noun ax head names the metal head of an ax, the heavy piece fixed to a handle that does the 'cutting' or 'splitting' of wood. So, it simply means the metal cutting part at the end of an ax today.