1. A kind of ax used as a weapon of war in the Middle Ages.
c. 1380. in Tytler, Hist. Scot. (1864), I. 367. Bow, and spier, And battle-axe, their fechting gear.
1437. Test. Ebor. (1855), II. 70. Unam loricam de optimis, et optimum batelax.
1546. Lanc. Wills, II. 27. Also my batell axe wth all other harnishe belongyng to my bodie.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., III. i. 169. Rear’d aloft the bloody Battle axe.
1762. Hume, Hist. Eng., II. (1803), xiv. 238. Cleft his adversary to the chin with a battle-ax.
1850. Prescott, Peru, II. 213. Long lances and battle-axes edged with copper.
2. A halberd or bill carried by guards.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4536/2. His Excellency proceeded to the Castle, attended by the Privy-Council, with the Guard of Battel-Axes. Ibid. (1714), No. 5282/6. The Company of Foot-Guards armed with Battel-axes.
