hatchet man
A male professional killer or gunman.
The crime lord dispatched his favorite hatchet man to make sure the witness would not testify.
hatchet
/ˈhæt͡ʃɪt/
noun 2verb 1
Collocations
5ADJ.
black, bloody, kind, long
VERB + HATCHET
borrow, brought, buried, bury, fondled, grasped, let's, use
HATCHET + NOUN
boss, friends, job, layla, man, tom, years
PREP.
after, after, from, in, in, off
ADV.
always, complacently
Definitions
noun
1
A small, light axe with a short handle; a tomahawk.
“It must be admitted, Nick, you are a very literal logician—‘dog won't eat dog,’ is our English saying. Still the Yankee will fight the Yengeese, it would seem. In a word, the Great Father, in England, has raised the hatchet against his American children.”
Buried was the bloody hatchet, / Buried was the dreadful war-club, / Buried were all warlike weapons, / And the war-cry was forgotten.
2
Belligerence, animosity; harsh criticism.
to bury the hatchet
hatchet job
verb
1
To cut with a hatchet.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — weapon consisting of a fighting ax
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
bury the hatchet
To cease fighting or arguing; to reach an agreement, or at least a truce.
They need to calm down and bury the hatchet before someone gets hurt.
take up the hatchet
To declare war or go to war.
Example Bank
601
“It must be admitted, Nick, you are a very literal logician—‘dog won't eat dog,’ is our English saying. Still the Yankee will fight the Yengeese, it would seem. In a word, the Great Father, in England
Wiktionary02
Buried was the bloody hatchet, / Buried was the dreadful war-club, / Buried were all warlike weapons, / And the war-cry was forgotten.
Wiktionary03
The fellow was armed with a stone-shod spear, a stone knife and a hatchet. In his black hair were several gay-colored feathers.
Wiktionary04
At one time we were enemies, but we've buried the hatchet and we are now on friendly terms with each other.
Tatoeba · #2775905
The owners brought in a hatchet man to fire all the union sympathizers.
Tatoeba · #6512706
After countless burials of the hatchet, we always dig it up again. There doesn't seem to be any sign of an ever-lasting peace.
Tatoeba · #66538Usage Notes
i Register
In some senses, hatchet is marked as figuratively. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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