1.
axe, hatchet
A tool with a heavy blade attached to a handle, used for chopping wood. Also appears in folktales and idioms.
斧で薪を割った。
I split firewood with an axe.
木こりは斧をかついで山に入った。
The woodcutter shouldered his axe and went into the mountains.
金の斧と銀の斧の話は、正直の大切さを教えてくれる。
The story of the golden axe and the silver axe teaches us the importance of honesty.
USAGE:
斧 is the standard word for an axe. It appears in the well-known folktale 金の斧銀の斧 (The Golden Axe and the Silver Axe), a Japanese adaptation of Aesop's fable about the honest woodcutter.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 斧を振る: to swing an axe
- 斧で割る: to chop with an axe
- 斧を研ぐ: to sharpen an axe
COUNTER: 本 (for the tool), 丁 (traditional)