axes 1 of 3

noun (1)

Definition of axesnext
plural of ax
as in dismissals
the termination of the employment of an employee or a work force often temporarily the company was hemorrhaging money, so 700 employees would soon be given the ax

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

axes

2 of 3

noun (2)

plural of axis
1
as in centers
a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest in addition to being the suburb's social axis, the country club is the place where deals are made and partnerships are forged

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2
as in alliances
an association of persons, parties, or states for mutual assistance and protection an axis of previously nonaligned nations

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axes

3 of 3

verb

present tense third-person singular of ax
as in sacks
to let go from office, service, or employment the boss will ax anyone who leaks company secrets

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of axes
Noun
Hikers need to know how to use ropes, crampons and ice axes to hike the mountain. — Caroline Zimmerman, Kansas City Star, 27 Aug. 2026 Its arrow exists in a three-dimensional Hilbert space, where the three axes represent the three possible future colors. — Quanta Magazine, 26 Aug. 2026 Australian colonial officers had brought new tools, like steel knives and axes, as well as prohibitions—against armed warfare and cannibalism—to some villages. — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 The discovery, made at radio wavelengths with ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, could explain why astronomers keep finding planets with orbits that are drastically misaligned with the rotational axes of their stars. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 17 Aug. 2026 The axes each part can move along are called degrees of freedom (for example, a screw should rotate, but not move side to side). — Kohava Mendelsohn, IEEE Spectrum, 10 Aug. 2026 The spacecraft, named Link, was rotating on multiple axes, rendering it unable to maintain a reliable communications link with the ground and complicating efforts to arrest the spin. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2026 There are a few different options for how fast the gimbal moves, and for locking the roll and tilt axes (so the picture stays level even if the handle isn’t). — Will Greenwald, PC Magazine, 30 July 2026 The attack advanced toward Shakhove along multiple axes, including the Boikivka-Mayak-Shakhove corridor, with separate elements maneuvering toward different objectives. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
Verb
The passed by Republicans last month axes the credits for projects that don’t begin producing electricity by 2028. — Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for axes
  1. dismissals
  2. centers
  3. alliances
  4. sacks
  5. firings
  6. capitals
  7. unions
  8. fires
Noun
  • That match had 24 dismissals either leg before wicket or bowled, a record for a Test in England.
    — Ben Jones Aug. 26, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The allegations against Tran have led to other murder convictions being overturned, dismissals and relatively lenient plea deals in other cases.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of dismissals
Noun
  • Free and open to all ages, participants track their hikes using the Goosechase app or with a travel log available at the district’s nature centers, including Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook and Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville.
    — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The production centers on a voodoo queen and the mysterious happenings in a cemetery.
    — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of centers
Noun
  • Powerful nations interested in the Pacific have raced in recent years to shore up alliances among its leaders, intensifying a contest for influence between China and the United States, Taiwan, and forum members Australia and New Zealand.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Navigating a changing climate, Marian develops interspecies alliances on a quest for the holy grail.
    — Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of alliances
Verb
  • Cale Britt sacks the quarterback and Bishop Moore will take over on downs at their own 42.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Manning, back for what is probably his final season, is on the short list of best returning quarterbacks in the country and edge rusher Colin Simmons won the SEC sacks title with 12.
    — Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 3 Jan. 2026
Definition of sacks
Noun
  • The mass firings at the CDC in early 2025 gutted the team studying TBI, right before it was expected to launch a nationwide concussion surveillance system.
    — Lydia McFarlane, NPR, 25 Aug. 2026
  • One person involved in the effort told me that the firings had been carried out because of an evolution in the business at Fannie and not for any ideological reason.
    — Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of firings
Noun
  • Instead of taking unilateral action, Washington should first seek the input and cooperation of allied capitals.
    — Nate Swanson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Hyperscalers, cloud providers, and AI companies racing to build the power-hungry facilities needed to train and run their systems now face a collision that is increasingly visible in state capitals and local planning meetings.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of capitals
Noun
  • Nonetheless, no agreements have been reached yet, partly because of the complexities of the issues surrounding AI, as well as sensitivities around how Hollywood talent and unions would react, the sources said.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026
  • The Court has been persistently reactionary in its dealings with other branches, using horizontal review to protect enslavers from abolitionists, bosses from unions, and tycoons from tax collectors.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of unions
Verb
  • Picture Angel Reese grabbing a rebound and passing to Caitlin Clark, who then fires down the floor to Paige Bueckers, who drives to the goal and fools the help defender with a dish to the best player on the planet.
    — Ian O'Connor, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The fact is, MLB’s next expansion derby isn’t going to be won by the city that wakes up after Commissioner Rob Manfred fires the starting gun.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of fires

Browse Nearby Words

axed
axes
axing
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Cite this Entry

“Axes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/axes. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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