hew

1 of 2

verb

hewed; hewed or hewn ˈhyün How to pronounce hew (audio) ; hewing

transitive verb

1
: to cut with blows of a heavy cutting instrument
roughly hewn logs
2
: to cut down by blows of an ax
hew a tree
3
: to give form or shape to with or as if with heavy cutting blows
hewed their farms from the wildernessJ. T. Shotwell

intransitive verb

1
: to make cutting blows (as with an ax)
2
: conform, adhere
hew to tradition
often used in the phrase hew to the line
no pressure … on newspapers to hew to the official lineN.Y. Times Mag.
hewer noun

HEW

2 of 2

abbreviation

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Examples of hew in a Sentence

Verb They hewed logs to build a cabin. The walls are built of stones hewn by skilled craftsmen.
Recent Examples on the Web
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Verb
Some key gender-swap choice aside, Blichfeldt hews closely to the shape of the original Grimm Brothers story in ways that, however inevitable, can’t escape predictability as Elvira undergoes transformations for the big ball. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2025 Trump often goes further, casting the entire administrative state as useless at best and a malevolent, corrupt, anti-American fifth column at worst and pledging to empower business-world titans like Elon Musk to hew through it in search of inefficiency. Peter C. Baker, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2025 Two stairways that, like the entire house, seem hewn from living rock, sweep upward elegantly to the patio. Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025 The properties are family-owned and were meticulously hewn from the surrounding bushland and transformed into exclusive safari experiences . Angelina Villa-Clarke, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hew 

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English hēawan; akin to Old High German houwan to hew, Lithuanian kauti to forge, Latin cudere to beat

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of hew was before the 12th century

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Cite this Entry

“Hew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hew. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

hew

verb
hewed; hewed or hewn ˈhyün How to pronounce hew (audio) ; hewing
1
: to chop down
hew trees
2
: to make or shape by cutting with an ax
a cabin built of rough-hewn logs
3
: to stick close to : adhere
hew to the established rules
hewer noun

Medical Definition

HEW

abbreviation
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

More from Merriam-Webster on hew

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