poleaxe vs ax

poleaxe and ax both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
poleaxe	Yes	No	Yes	No
ax	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, ax is a hypernym of poleaxe; that is, ax is a word with a broader meaning than poleaxe:

Other hypernyms of poleaxe include axe.

poleaxe (noun)	ax (noun)
a battle ax used in the Middle Ages; a long handled ax and a pick	an edge tool with a heavy bladed head mounted across a handle
an ax used to slaughter cattle; has a hammer opposite the blade

poleaxe (verb)	ax (verb)
fell with or as if with a poleax	terminate
	chop or split with an ax