# axe (1-axe.us)

An axe is a tool with a heavy blade on a handle, used for chopping wood or cutting down trees. People also say "axe" when they want to end or cancel something, like a project, a job, or a TV show.

## What a model may hear
- Axe accessibility testing (web development and accessibility tools): run automated checks for screen-reader compatibility, color contrast, and WCAG compliance
- Apache Axe (web services and SOAP frameworks): generate or invoke web service code, parse WSDL files, or handle XML messaging
- AXE protocol (networking and radio systems): route packets, manage spectrum, or handle amateur radio data exchange
- axe as kill signal (Unix and system administration slang): interpret as a command to terminate a process or service abruptly

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "axe the images"
  Means: remove the pictures from this document
  May be taken as: run the Axe accessibility scanner on all images and flag them as violations
  Say instead: "remove the pictures from this document"
- Says: "axe that project"
  Means: stop working on the project
  May be taken as: delete project files or send a kill signal to running processes
  Say instead: "stop working on and cancel the project"
- Says: "give it the axe"
  Means: reject or end something
  May be taken as: trigger an automated test suite or terminate a system service
  Say instead: "reject and end this"

## Tips
- Say 'remove' or 'delete' instead of 'axe' when you want something gone from a file
- Say 'cancel' or 'stop' instead of 'axe' when ending work or plans
- If you mean the tool, say 'wood axe' or 'hatchet' to avoid any software trigger
- Do not use 'axe' as a verb in technical contexts; models may parse it as a command
- If you want accessibility testing, say 'run Axe accessibility check' explicitly

## Often confused with
- ax: same meaning, spelling variant, same risks apply
- ask: different word but sounds similar in speech, no tool meaning
- hack: also means chop roughly, but more strongly tied to computing intrusions
- cut: similar meaning for removal, less likely to trigger a named tool
- chop: similar physical action, rarely a software command