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[[File:Felling axe.jpg|thumb|]]
An '''{{w|axe}}''' (sometimes '''ax''' in {{w|American English}}; [[w:American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences|see spelling differences]]) is an implement that has been used for [[Millennium|millennia]] to shape, split and cut [[wood]], to [[harvest]] [[w:Lumber|timber]], as a [[w:battle axe|weapon]], and as a [[ceremony|ceremonial]] or [[w:Heraldry|heraldic]] [[symbol]]. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a [[w:Handle (grip)|handle]], or ''helve''.

==Quotes==
<!--[[File:Brescia Monte pietà romani1 by Stefano Bolognini.JPG|thumb|Roman axe in an ancient Roman relief in Brescia, [[Italy]]]]
[[File:Louis_Douzette_-_Sitzender_Holzfäller.jpg|thumb|Louis Douzette]]-->

* It is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead.
** [[Edsger W. Dijkstra]], [http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD04xx/EWD498.html "How do we tell truths that might hurt?"] (1975). Published in ''ACM SIGPLAN Notices'' 17:5 (May 1982), pp. 13–15

* The woodman's axe lies free,<br>And the reaper's work is done.
** [[Felicia Hemans]], "[[s:Forget Me Not/1828/Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants|Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants]]", st. 1, in ''Forget Me Not for 1829'' (1828) p. 137

* Some wield the sounding axe; the [[wikt:doddered#Adjective|dodder'd]] oaks<br>Divide, obedient to the forceful strokes.
** [[Homer]], ''Odyssey'', bk. 20, translated by [[The Odyssey of Homer (Alexander Pope)|Alexander Pope]] (1725)

* Whenever there is excess, an axe remedies it!
** [[Sumerian proverb]], [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/proverbs/t.6.1.18.html Collection XVIII] at [[w:The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature|ETCSL]]

=== [[w:Hatchet|Hatchet]] ===

* {{smallcaps|Hatchet}}, ''n.'' A young axe, known among Indians as a Thomashawk.<br>"O bury the hatchet, irascible Red,<br>For peace is a blessing," the White Man said.<br>The Savage concurred, and that weapon interred,<br>With imposing rites, in the White Man's head.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;''John Lukkus''
** [[Ambrose Bierce]], ''The Devil's Dictionary'' (1911)

==External links==
{{Wikipedia}}
{{wiktionary|axe}}
{{Commons}}
{{Commons category|Axes}}
* "[[Wikisource:The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Axe|Axe]]" . {{w|Encyclopedia Americana}}. 1920.
* "[[Wikisource:The New International Encyclopædia/Axe|Axe]]" . {{w|New International Encyclopedia}}. 1905.
* "[[Wikisource:The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Axe|Axe]]" . {{w|The American Cyclopædia}}. 1879.
* "[[Wikisource:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Axe|Axe]]". {{w|Encyclopædia Britannica}} (11th ed.). 1911.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Weapons]]
[[Category:Tools]]