rough-hew

or rough·hew

[ ruhf-hyoo ]

verb (used with object)

, rough-hewed, rough-hewed or rough-hewn, rough-hew·ing.

1. to hew (timber, stone, etc.) roughly or without smoothing or finishing.
2. to shape roughly; give crude form to.

rough-hew

verb

1. to cut or hew (timber, stone, etc) roughly without finishing the surface
2. Alsoroughcast to shape roughly or crudely

Word History and Origins

Origin of rough-hew¹

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

It also engages the idea that some things may be hard-wired into our blood, echoing Hamlet’s phrase about how there’s a “divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.”

From New York Times

To shape the ends of wood skewers, i. e., to point them, requires a degree of skill: any one can rough-hew them.

From Project Gutenberg

For, where men like Byron are concerned, it is peculiarly true that the divinity of the Muse shapes their ends, rough-hew these how they may.

From Project Gutenberg

This must be what happens when you can rough-hew the world's work to suit your means.

From The Guardian

But it has been written by a wise man, “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will,” and Tom Blount was soon to find out its truth.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• chisel
• divide
• engrave
• etch
• fashion
• hack
• mold
• sculpt
• shape
• slice