hatchet

/ˈhætʃət/

/ˈhætʃɪt/

Other forms: hatchets

A hatchet is a little ax used for chopping wood or for hewing a round log into a squared-off shape. If you go camping, you might take a hatchet with you.

If someone hands you a hatchet and tells you to start splitting a pile of firewood, they expect you to chop each log into smaller pieces. The difference between a hatchet and an ax is that hatchets have short handles and are meant to be held in one hand. Axes have longer handles for two-handed chopping. If someone wants to "bury the hatchet," it's not a threat—they just want to end an argument and be friends.

Definitions of hatchet

1. noun

   a small ax with a short handle used with one hand (usually to chop wood)
   types:

   broad hatchet

   a short-handled hatchet with a broad blade opposite a hammerhead

   claw hatchet

   a hatchet that has a cleft for pulling nails

   half hatchet

   a hatchet with a broad blade on one end and a hammer head of the other

   type of:

   ax, axe

   an edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle
2. noun

   weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American Indians
   synonyms: tomahawk

   type of:

   arm, weapon, weapon system

   any instrument or instrumentality used in fighting or hunting