to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.
to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows.
to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.
to sever (a part) from a whole by means of cutting blows (usually followed by away, off, out, from, etc.).
to hew branches from the tree.
to cut down; fell.
to hew wood; trees hewed down by the storm.
to strike with cutting blows; cut.
He hewed more vigorously each time.
to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually followed byto ).
to hew to the tenets of one's political party.
to strike (something, esp wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe
to shape or carve from a substance
(tr; often foll by away, down, from, off, etc) to sever from a larger or another portion
to conform (to a code, principle, etc)
See cut.
First recorded before 900; Middle English hewen, Old English hēawan; cognate with German hauen, Old Norse hǫggva; akin to haggle
If you're a lumberjack, the word hew is nothing new. You hew things every day with one swift swing of the axe, chopping and shaping wood. It's said that Paul Bunyan hewed the Grand Canyon by dragging his giant mythical axe behind him. But usually things are hewn with a little more purpose — with each chop and cut designed to shape, sculpt, or craft a final product. Take the axe out of the picture though, and this word takes on a different meaning. If you're trying to adhere to rules, stick to a budget, or conform to a certain tradition, you can use hew, too.
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Microdramas hew to an established formula, with each installment ending on a cliffhanger that pushes its often preposterous story line toward a final, usually shocking reveal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
The deals appear to closely hew to the same lines as the earlier deals with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which were seen as significant wins for the industry.
From Barron's • Dec. 19, 2025
With changes to tax law, the Dec. 31 deadline has become almost arbitrary, yet people still hew to old habits.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 19, 2025
Wiegman's watch notification during hew news conference reminded her of a workout she was due to have.
From BBC • Jul. 27, 2025
Ernest had sought to get Time to hew to his practice of spreading credit broadly, but was only partially successful.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
