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   poleaxe

   /ˈpəʊlaks/

   noun

   • 1. another term for battleaxe
   • ▪ a short-handled axe with a spike at the back, formerly used in naval warfare for boarding, resisting boarders, and cutting ropes.
   • ▪ a butcher's axe with a hammer head at the back, used to slaughter animals.

   verb

   • 1. hit, kill, or knock down with or as if with a poleaxe: "the tigress had fallen to my bullet as if poleaxed"
   • ▪ cause great shock to: "I was poleaxed by this revelation"

   Word Origin Middle English: related to Middle Dutch pol(l)aex, Middle Low German pol(l)exe(see poll, axe). The change in the first syllable was due to association with pole1; the first element poll- may have referred to a special head of the axe or to the head of an enemy.

   Scrabble Points: 16

   • P

     3

   • O

     1

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

   • A

     1

   • X

     8

   • E

     1

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