HEW


Meaning of HEW in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈhyü ]

verb

( hewed ; hewed or hewn ˈhyün ; hew·ing )

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hēawan; akin to Old High German houwan to hew, Lithuanian kauti to forge, Latin cudere to beat

Date: before 12th century

transitive verb

1. : to cut with blows of a heavy cutting instrument

2. : to fell by blows of an ax

hew a tree

3. : to give form or shape to with or as if with heavy cutting blows

hew ed their farms from the wilderness — J. T. Shotwell

intransitive verb

1. : to make cutting blows

2. : conform , adhere

hew to tradition

— often used in the phrase hew to the line

no pressure…on newspapers to hew to the official line — New York Times Magazine

• hew·er noun

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.