hammer axe

9.9

A weapon with a hammer head on one side and an axe blade on the other for fighting

noun

Archaic

: hacha de martillo

The medieval knight wielded a hammer axe to break through his opponent's armor.

Examples

Museum visitors admired the ornate hammer axe displayed among other ancient weapons.
A hammer axe combines the functionality of a smashing tool and a cutting blade.
The knight wielded a hammer axe in battle.
Many hammer axes were found in the ancient ruins.
The medieval knight wielded a hammer axe to break through his opponent's armor.
Museum visitors admired the ornate hammer axe displayed among other ancient weapons.
Many hammer axes were found in the ancient ruins.

Synonyms

hammer-axe

vshammer axe

9.9

A weapon with a hammer on one side and an axe blade on the other

is the same weapon but uses the conventional hyphenated form

axe-hammer

vshammer axe

9.9

A tool with an axe blade on one side and a hammer on the other for fighting or work

is identical but often named with reversed word order

Surface Forms

hammer axe singular

hammer axes plural

Morphology

hammer + ax

The noun is directly composed from 'hammer' and 'ax(e)', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes an object combining a hammer head and an axe blade (i.e., a hybrid tool/weapon). This follows regular noun–noun compounding patterns and involves no idiomatic or metaphorical shift, making the meaning predictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Hammer axe is the name of a real weapon with a hammer head on one side and an axe blade on the other. Soldiers used the hammer to smash armor and the axe to cut, so the name explains its two parts and now means 'a weapon with both a hammer and an axe'.