MEANING
1. To cut into or cut down something with strong repeated blows from an axe or similar tool.
2. To make or shape an object by cutting material with an axe, chisel, or similar tool.
3. To conform closely to a principle, plan, line, or other stated course.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- hew wood
- hew a tree
- hew a path through
On the page
They hewed a path through the fallen branches before dawn.
He hewed at the trunk until the axe handle grew slippery in his palms.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- hew
- Past tense
- hewed
- Past participle
- hewn or hewed
- Present participle
- hewing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- hew
- Present continuous
- am/is/are hewing
- Present perfect
- have/has hewn or hewed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been hewing
- Past
- hewed
- Past continuous
- was/were hewing
- Past perfect
- had hewn or hewed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been hewing
- Future
- will hew
- Future continuous
- will be hewing
- Future perfect
- will have hewn or hewed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been hewing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: hew; hews; hewed; hewn or hewed; hewing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: hews.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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