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poleaxe
(redirected from poleax)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus 0.01 sec.
poleaxe
a long-handled hammer, about 9 to 10 lb, originally with an axe blade at the front, used at one time for stunning cattle prior to bleeding out at slaughter.


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Ó If nothing else, by inviting me to lunch and picking my brain (no poleax necessary when one of those toothpicks at the cash register will do) about who the new athletic director should be, James Dean showed heÕs a Rebel With a Cause.
But our vernacular term for either one, poleax, stems from a misunderstanding: the word was once poll-ax, not an ax for bashing polls (heads), but rather one that had a slab of iron welded on the opposite side of its head from the blade, so as to combine improved balance with additional clout.
Perversely, though, It wasn't anything about the chainsaw chase or poleax sequence that upset the American censors.
 
 
 
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