axis (redirected from basicranial axis)

Axis, coalition of countries headed by Germany, Italy, and Japan, 1936–45 (see World War II). The expression "Rome-Berlin axis" originated in Oct., 1936, with an accord reached by Hitler and Mussolini. The Axis was solidified by an Italo-German alliance in May, 1939. This was extended (Sept., 1940) by a military alliance among Germany, Italy, and Japan—the so-called Berlin Pact, to which Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Croatia adhered later. The related Anti-Comintern Pact (see Comintern), originally concluded between Germany and Japan in 1936, later had as adherents, besides the Berlin Pact nations, Spain, Denmark, Finland, and the puppet governments of Manchukuo and Nanjing.

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axis¹

1. a real or imaginary line about which a body, such as an aircraft, can rotate or about which an object, form, composition, or geometrical construction is symmetrical

2. one of two or three reference lines used in coordinate geometry to locate a point in a plane or in space

3. Anatomy the second cervical vertebra

4. Botany the main central part of a plant, typically consisting of the stem and root, from which secondary branches and other parts develop

5. an alliance between a number of states to coordinate their foreign policy

6. Optics the line of symmetry of an optical system, such as the line passing through the centre of a lens

7. Geology an imaginary line along the crest of an anticline or the trough of a syncline

8. Crystallog one of three lines passing through the centre of a crystal and used to characterize its symmetry

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axis²

any of several S Asian deer of the genus Axis, esp A. axis. They typically have a reddish-brown white-spotted coat and slender antlers

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Axis

in World War II, the affiance of Germany, Italy, Japan, etc., opposing the Allies. [Eur. Hist.: Collier’s, VIII, 457]

See : Cooperation