helves








noun

  1. the handle of an ax, hatchet, hammer, or the like.

verb (used with object), helved, helv·ing.

  1. to furnish with a helve.

noun

  1. the handle of a hand tool such as an axe or pick

verb

  1. (tr) to fit a helve to (a tool)
n.

Old English helfe, hielfe “handle of an axe” or other tool or weapon, from Proto-Germanic *halb- (cf. Old Saxon helvi, Middle Dutch helf, Old High German halb “handle of an axe,” Old High German helmo “tiller”); related to halter and helm (1), from PIE *kelp- “to hold, grasp.” In Middle English, to holden the axe bi the helve (c.1200) meant “to take something by the right end.”

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