The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word AXES
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
A
X
E
S
More clues leading to the result AXES
- Cuts lines on graph?
- Terminates alliances
- No intro for jazz instruments
- Does away with lines on a graph
- Choppers that could help get to people in fires?
- For example, x and y across primarily, the other going vertically?
- Plotters regularly use such weapons
- Cuts neckbones
- Cuts lines on graph
- Cuts lines in graph at right angles
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The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does AXES mean?
AXES 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.
- A dismissal or rejection.
- A gigging musician's particular instrument, especially a guitar in rock music or a saxophone in jazz.
- A position, interest, or reason in buying and selling stock, often with ulterior motives.
- The axle of a wheel.
- To request (information, or an answer to a question).
- To put forward (a question) to be answered.
- To interrogate or enquire of (a person).
- To request or petition; usually with for.
- To request permission to do something.
- To require, demand, claim, or expect, whether by way of remuneration or return, or as a matter of necessity.
- To invite.
- To publish in church for marriage; said of both the banns and the persons.
- To take (a person's situation) as an example.
- To fell or chop with an axe.
- To lay off, terminate or drastically reduce, especially in a rough or ruthless manner; to cancel.
- To furnish with an axle.
- An imaginary line around which an object spins (an axis of rotation) or is symmetrically arranged (an axis of symmetry).
- A fixed one-dimensional figure, such as a line or arc, with an origin and orientation and such that its points are in one-to-one correspondence with a set of numbers; an axis forms part of the basis of a space or is used to position and locate data in a graph (a coordinate axis)
- The second cervical vertebra of the spine
- A form of classification and descriptions of mental disorders or disabilities used in manuals such as the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)
- The main stem or central part about which organs or plant parts such as branches are arranged