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.

Synonyms

chop

cut

hack

carve

cut down

cleave

lop

hew out

chisel

mangle

whittle

split

slash

mow

chop up

trim

adze

beat

fell

hoe

kill

🔪🩸👤

mince

rend

rip

saw

🪚

tear

disfigure

divide

excavate

facet

whomp

grave

🪦

chase

hash

#️⃣

carve out

hit

work over

break asunder

break up

lumber

break

maul

fell a tree

bludgeon

mutilate

pare

paste

peel

pick

⛏️

pierce

polish

🇵🇱

pound

💷

publication

publish

quarrying

raft

crack

bang out

rough-hew

winning and opening

scrape

sculpt

sculpture

shear

biff

slice

slit

smooth

snap

splinter

beat up

strike

mining work

thrash

adhere

wedge

ax

clobber

conform

clip

chip

cut into pieces

cut off

deck

dig

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”).