hew

[ hyoo or, often, yoo ]

verb (used with object),hewed, hewed or hewn, hew·ing.

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.

verb (used without object),hewed, hewed or hewn, hew·ing.

to strike with cutting blows; cut: He hewed more vigorously each time.
to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually followed by to): to hew to the tenets of one's political party.

Origin of hew

First recorded before 900; Middle English hewen, Old English hēawan; cognate with German hauen, Old Norse hǫggva; akin to haggle

synonym study For hew

1. See cut.

Other words for hew

form

See synonyms for hew on Thesaurus.com

Other words from hew

hew·a·ble, adjective
hewer, noun
un·hew·a·ble, adjective
un·hewed, adjective

Words that may be confused with hew

hew , hue

Other definitions for HEW (2 of 2)

HEW

abbreviation

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hew in a sentence

Bannon is a scammer, but many Republicans continue to hew to this mythology in various forms.
Steve Bannon’s vile threats show the GOP’s radicalization is getting worse | Greg Sargent | February 19, 2021 | Washington Post
By eye, the plates looked as if they hewed to the Voronoi pattern, not the rectangular one.
Scientists Uncover the Universal Geometry of Geology | Joshua Sokol | November 19, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
Yet another of the men to Bui was Havard the Hewer; even stronger was he, and a man of great valour.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) | Snorri Sturluson
Would you advise me, then, to be a hewer of wood and a drawer of water, in preference?
Ernest Linwood | Caroline Lee Hentz
Geordie Armstrong, after a somewhat stormy past, had become a steady hewer, and a local preacher of some repute.
Tales of Northumbria | Howard Pease

So he went out with W. Hewer, and by diligent grubbing in the mould, made the sum nearly tally.
The Great North Road: London to York | Charles G. Harper
Pepys died in 1703, at the house of his friend Hewer, at Clapham.
Haunted London | Walter Thornbury

British Dictionary definitions for hew (1 of 2)

hew

/ (hjuː) /

verbhews, hewing, hewed, hewed or hewn (hjuːn)

to strike (something, esp wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe
(tr often foll by out) to shape or carve from a substance

(tr; often foll by away, down, from, off, etc) to sever from a larger or another portion
(intr often foll by to) US and Canadian to conform (to a code, principle, etc)

Origin of hew

Old English hēawan; related to Old Norse heggva, Old Saxon hāwa, Old High German houwan, Latin cūdere to beat

Derived forms of hew

hewer, noun

British Dictionary definitions for HEW (2 of 2)

HEW

abbreviation for(in the US)

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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