hew

Meaning

Verb

1. To chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down.
2. To shape; to form.
3. To act according to, to conform to; usually construed with to.

Noun

Destruction by cutting down or hewing.

Noun

1. (obsolete) Hue; colour.
2. (obsolete) Shape; form.

Concepts

hew

chop

cut

hack

carve

cut down

cleave

chisel

whittle

lop

slash

mangle

chop up

mow

split

hew out

rend

rip

tear

fell

saw

mince

trim

hoe

adze

beat

kill

cut off

facet

grave

slice

carve out

break

crack

slit

snap

splinter

disfigure

mutilate

polish

scrape

smooth

ax

strike

break asunder

divide

pierce

pare

peel

conform

adhere

chase

chip

wedge

dig

excavate

mining work

quarrying

winning and opening

bang out

beat up

biff

bludgeon

break up

clobber

deck

lumber

paste

pick

pound

thrash

whomp

work over

hash

maul

sculpt

sculpture

rough-hew

hit

fell a tree

publication

publish

clip

shear

cut into pieces

raft

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hjuː/

Etymology

From Middle English hewen, from Old English hēawan, from Proto-West Germanic *hauwan, from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to strike, hew, forge”). Cognate to German hauen, Dutch houwen and Swedish hugga. Sense 3 derives from the phrase hew to the line (literally “cut evenly with an axe or saw”).