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Axe vs Null - What's the difference?

axe | null |

In transitive terms the difference between axe and null

is that axe is to lay off: to terminate a person's employment while null is to nullify; to annul.

As an adjective null is

having no validity, "null and void.

axe

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl), from (etyl) , and also (etyl) (m).

Alternative forms

* ax (largely US)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A tool for felling trees or chopping wood etc. consisting of a heavy head flattened to a blade on one side, and a handle attached to it.
  • An ancient weapon consisting of a head that has one or two blades and a long handle.
  • (informal) A dismissal or rejection.
  • His girlfriend/boss/schoolmaster gave him the axe .
  • * 1975 , (Bob Dylan), (Tangled Up in Blue)
  • I had a job in the great North Woods
    Workin' as a cook for a spell.
    But I never did like it all that much
    And one day the axe just fell.
  • (slang, music) A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
  • (finance) A directional position or interest, by a dealer in a financial market – if one wishes to unload stock, one is “axed to sell” or “has an axe”. Shedding the correlation ‘axe’, Risk magazine Derived from “have an axe to grind”, which is also used.
  • Usage notes
    In the United States, this spelling is often used to distinguish the weapon from the tool, though some simply don't use the "ax" spelling at all, and only use "axe".
    Synonyms
    * chop, pink slip, sack, boot
    Derived terms
    * have an axe to grind * battle axe * axeman
    See also
    * adze * hatchet * twibill

    Verb

    (ax)
  • To fell or chop with an axe.
  • To terminate or reduce tremendously in a rough or ruthless manner.
  • The government announced its plans to axe public spending.
    The broadcaster axed the series because far less people than expected watched it.
  • To lay off: to terminate a person's employment
  • He got axed in the last round of firings.
    Synonyms
    * (lay off) fire, lay off, downsize

    Etymology 2

    Alternative forms

    * (US)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) The axle of a wheel.
  • Verb

    (ax)
  • To furnish with an axle.
  • Etymology 3

    Verb

    (ax)
  • (obsolete, or, dialectal)
  • * 1395 , John Wycliffe, trans. Bible , 1 Corinthis 14:35:
  • But if thei wolen ony thing lerne, at home axe thei her hosebondis; for it is foule thing to a womman to speke in chirche.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Luke IIi:
  • And the people axed hym, sayinge: What shall we do then.

    null

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A non-existent or empty value or set of values.
  • Zero]] quantity of [[expression, expressions; nothing.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • Something that has no force or meaning.
  • (computing) the ASCII or Unicode character (), represented by a zero value, that indicates no character and is sometimes used as a string terminator.
  • (computing) the attribute of an entity that has no valid value.
  • Since no date of birth was entered for the patient, his age is null .
  • One of the beads in nulled work.
  • (statistics) null hypothesis
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having no validity, "null and void"
  • insignificant
  • * 1924 , Marcel Proust, Within a Budding Grove :
  • In proportion as we descend the social scale our snobbishness fastens on to mere nothings which are perhaps no more null than the distinctions observed by the aristocracy, but, being more obscure, more peculiar to the individual, take us more by surprise.
  • absent or non-existent
  • (mathematics) of the null set
  • (mathematics) of or comprising a value of precisely zero
  • (genetics, of a mutation) causing a complete loss of gene function, amorphic.
  • Derived terms

    * nullity

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • to nullify; to annul
  • (Milton)

    See also

    * nil ----