hatchet

Noun

A small, short-handled ax used for chopping wood.
weapon consisting of a fighting ax; used by North American Indians
a small ax with a short handle used with one hand (usually to chop wood)
A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.
Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.

Verb

To cut with a hatchet.

Examples

Dropping HATCHET on a double-word score felt like a decisive blow to his opponent’s lead.
hatchet job
to bury the hatchet

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English hachet, a borrowing from Old French hachete, diminutive of hache (“axe”), from Vulgar Latin *happia, from Frankish *happjā, from Proto-Germanic *hapjǭ, *habjǭ (“knife”), from Proto-Indo-European *kop- (“to strike, to beat”). Cognate with Old High German happa, heppa, habba (“reaper, sickle”), German Hippe (“billhook”), Dutch heep, hiep (“billhook”), and Ancient Greek κοπίς (kopís). Mostly displaced native Old English handæx, whence Modern English hand axe.

Synonyms

tomahawk

Scrabble Score: 15

hatchet: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
hatchet: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hatchet: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

hatchet: valid Words With Friends Word