kerf

[ kurf ]

noun

1. a cut or incision made by a saw or the like in a piece of wood.
2. Mining. a deep cut a few inches high, used to undermine a portion of a coal or mineral seam.
3. the act of cutting or carving.

verb (used with object)

1. to make a kerf or kerfs in (a piece of wood, a coal seam, etc.).

kerf

/ kɜːf /

noun

1. the cut made by a saw, an axe, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of kerf¹

before 1000; Middle English kerf, kirf, Old English cyrf a cutting (cognate with Old Frisian kerf ); akin to carve

Word History and Origins

Origin of kerf¹

Old English cyrf a cutting; related to Old English ceorfan to carve

Example Sentences

Don’t forget the all-important drip kerf under the crown overhang!

From Seattle Times

We learn the word for the space that the saw eats up in the wood — kerf — and how to operate circular saws, routers, drills and drivers.

From Washington Post

Crowns are supposed to overhang the chimney and have a drip kerf on the underside of the overhang.

From Washington Post

In the field the dead sedge was drifted nearly out of sight and the snow stood in razor kerfs atop the fencewires and the silence was breathless.

From Literature

I see new words that sound cool like dado and kerf and tenon and mortise.

From Literature

Related Words

• laceration
• wound