poleaxe
/ˈpoʊlˌæks/noun, verb
poleaxe is spelled P-O-L-E-A-X-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, poleaxe means “An ax having both a blade and a hammer face; used to slaughter cattle” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of poleaxe is poleaxes.
How many letters and syllables are in poleaxe?
| Letters | 7: P-O-L-E-A-X-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 72 million words; the 269,040th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is poleaxe?
Poleaxe appears about once in every 72 million words in written English, the 269,040th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce poleaxe?
- US /ˈpoʊlˌæks/
Poleaxe has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-poleaxe.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of poleaxe
- poleaxes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- poleax
- pole-axe
- pollaxe
- pollax
- polax
- poleaxing participle, present
- poleaxed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does poleaxe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An ax having both a blade and a hammer face; used to slaughter cattle.
- 2
A long-handled battle axe, being a combination of ax, hammer and pike.
verb
- 1
To fell someone with, or as if with, a poleaxe.
- 2
To astonish; to shock or surprise utterly.
- 3
To stymie, thwart, cripple, paralyze.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Poleaxe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Schlachterbeil, Schlachtbeil , Kriegsaxt, Streitaxt , zusammenschlagen , schockieren |
| French | hache d'armes |
| Portuguese | acha |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does poleaxe come from?
From earlier pollax, from poll (“head”) + axe, with the spelling influenced by pole.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).