give the axe

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ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Verb	1.	give the axe - terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers" give notice, give the sack, sack, send away, can, force out, displace, fire, dismiss, terminate retire - make (someone) retire; "The director was retired after the scandal" pension off - let go from employment with an attractive pension; "The director was pensioned off when he got senile" clean out - force out; "The new boss cleaned out the lazy workers" furlough, lay off - dismiss, usually for economic reasons; "She was laid off together with hundreds of other workers when the company downsized" squeeze out - force out; "Some employees were squeezed out by the recent budget cuts" remove - remove from a position or an office send away, send packing, dismiss, drop - stop associating with; "They dropped her after she had a child out of wedlock"
	2.	give the axe - terminate a relationship abruptly; "Mary gave John the axe after she saw him with another woman" give the bounce, give the gate break up, part, split, split up, separate, break - discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; "The business partners broke over a tax question"; "The couple separated after 25 years of marriage"; "My friend and I split up"