Helve
//hɛlv// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The handle or haft of a tool or weapon.
"It was the bad ax-helve someone had sold me— / “Made on machine,” he said, plowing the grain […]"
- 2 the handle of a weapon or tool wordnet
- 3 A forge hammer lifted by a cam acting on the helve between the fulcrum and the head.
Verb
- 1 To furnish (an axe, etc.) with a helve. transitive
Example
More examples"It was the bad ax-helve someone had sold me— / “Made on machine,” he said, plowing the grain […]"
Etymology
From Middle English helfe, helve; from Old English hielfe, from Proto-Germanic *halbiją. Probably cognate to English half, although Etymonline claims relation from halter and helm.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.