poleaxe
verb /ˈpəʊlæks/
/ˈpəʊlæks/
(British English) (US English usually poleax)
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they poleaxe | /ˈpəʊlæks/ /ˈpəʊlæks/ |
| he / she / it poleaxes | /ˈpəʊlæksɪz/ /ˈpəʊlæksɪz/ |
| past simple poleaxed | /ˈpəʊlækst/ /ˈpəʊlækst/ |
| past participle poleaxed | /ˈpəʊlækst/ /ˈpəʊlækst/ |
| -ing form poleaxing | /ˈpəʊlæksɪŋ/ /ˈpəʊlæksɪŋ/ |
- poleaxe somebody to hit somebody very hard so that they fall down and cannot stand up again
- [usually passive] poleaxe somebody to surprise or shock you so much that you do not know what to say or do synonym dumbfoundTopics Feelingsc2
Word OriginMiddle 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 pole ‘long piece of word or metal’; the first element poll- may have referred to a special head of the axe or to the head of an enemy.