hew

¹

[ hyooor, often, yoo ]

verb (used with object)

, hewed, hewed or hewn, hew·ing.

1. to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.
2. to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows:

   to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.

   Synonyms: form

3. 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.

4. to cut down; fell:

   to hew wood; trees hewed down by the storm.

verb (used without object)

, hewed, hewed or hewn, hew·ing.

1. to strike with cutting blows; cut:

   He hewed more vigorously each time.

2. to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually followed by to ):

   to hew to the tenets of one's political party.

HEW

²

abbreviation for

1. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

hew

¹

/ hjuː /

verb

1. to strike (something, esp wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe
2. troften foll byout to shape or carve from a substance
3. tr; often foll by away, down, from, off, etc to sever from a larger or another portion
4. introften foll byto to conform (to a code, principle, etc)

HEW

²

abbreviation for

1. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Derived Forms

• ˈhewer, noun

Other Words From

• hewa·ble adjective
• hewer noun
• un·hewa·ble adjective
• un·hewed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hew¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hew¹

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

Synonym Study

See cut.

Example Sentences

That system weakened as members of all three branches hewed increasingly to the platforms of the two political parties.

From Axios

The xEMU has bearings that are lighter and hew closer to the joints than ones used for previous EMUs.

From MIT Technology Review

The pandemic has been the ultimate stress test on us and on our nation, and it doesn’t hew to human timelines.

From Washington Post

All other Senate races hewed quite close to presidential results — and because this year’s Senate races took place largely on Republican turf, that was a big blow to Democrats’ efforts to flip the chamber.

From FiveThirtyEight

Instead of hewing to the usual limit, we created five separate lists this year.

From Fortune

That may make them more likely to, collectively, hew to a more moderate path when giving odds on the election.

From The Daily Beast

Designers hew to their legacies for fall lines, while Armani argues against his reputation for elegance.

From The Daily Beast

After Jobs left, Scully says, the company tried to hew to his design philosophy.

From The Daily Beast

Behind all the finger-wagging is the idea that movies about history need to hew to facts.

From The Daily Beast

His object was to reach Allahabad that night—not to hew his way through opposing hordes and risk being cut down in the process.

From Project Gutenberg

Draw the belt tighter, my son, and hew me out this tree that is fallen across the road, for our campground is not here.

From Project Gutenberg

Then bade the King his men hew the ice and release his ships into the lake, and so went the men and set to work to hew the ice.

From Project Gutenberg

Look at the swagger of the vagabond who commands his braves, would you not think he was about to hew down everything in sight?

From Project Gutenberg

The other man was negligible—a bovine lump of flesh without personality—born to hew wood and draw water for men of enterprise.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cleave