Yes, AX is a Scrabble word!

Definition: A cutting tool made of a sharp-edged, wedge-shaped (or bow-shaped) metal blade attached to a handle. Variant spelling AXE.

People typically associate axes with chopping trees, but that’s not all they’re used for. In Tudor England, King Henry VIII was fond of decapitating anyone he wanted to get rid of (especially wives), and the ax was his method of choice for most of his victims (except for Wife No. 2, Anne Boleyn, who enjoyed an “easier” decapitation courtesy of a French swordsman).

In popular American culture, the ax first became associated with gruesomeness thanks to a popular children’s rhyme based on a famous, still-unsolved 1892 murder: “Lizzie Borden took an ax / And gave her mother forty whacks. / When she saw what she had done, / She gave her father forty-one.” Just so you know, our grandparents used to skip rope to this one. In more contemporary pop culture, the ax-as-murder-weapon concept reached its zenith of popularity when Jason Voorhees showed off his ax-wielding skills in the “Friday the 13th” series of horror movies.

Colloquially, having an “ax to grind” with someone means that there’s an unresolved issue that needs to be discussed - usually with negative connotations.

Ways to use AX in a sentence:

• “In ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ the Tin Man carried an ax.”
• “You’ll need an ax to chop some firewood.”
• “I have an ax to grind with you!”