hew

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Related to hews: hues

hew

strike forcefully with a cutting instrument; to fell; to uphold or conform to rules: hew to the tenets of the church

Not to be confused with:

hue – gradation of a color; tint: It had a pinkish hue.; outcry: the hue and clamor of the crowd

HEW

abbr.

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

hew

(hyo͞o)

v. hewed, hewn (hyo͞on) or hewed, hew·ing, hews

v.tr.

1. To make or shape with or as if with an axe: hew a path through the underbrush.

2. To cut down with an axe; fell: hew an oak.

3. To strike or cut; cleave.

v.intr.

1. To cut something by repeated blows, as of an axe.

2. To adhere or conform strictly; hold: hew to the line.

[Middle English hewen, from Old English hēawan; see kau- in Indo-European roots.]

hew′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hew

(hjuː)

vb, hews, hewing, hewed, hewed or hewn (hjuːn)

1. to strike (something, esp wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe

2. (often foll by: out) to shape or carve from a substance

3. (tr; often foll by away, down, from, off, etc) to sever from a larger or another portion

4. (often foll by: to) US and Canadian to conform (to a code, principle, etc)

[Old English hēawan; related to Old Norse heggva, Old Saxon hāwa, Old High German houwan, Latin cūdere to beat]

ˈhewer n

HEW

(in the US) abbreviation for

(Social Welfare) Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hew

(hyu or, often, yu)

v. hewed, hewed hewn, hew•ing. v.t.

1. to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop.

2. to make, shape, or smooth with or as if with cutting blows: to hew a statue from marble.

3. to sever (a part) from a whole by means of cutting blows: to hew branches from the tree.

4. to cut down; fell: trees hewed down by the storm.

v.i.

5. to strike with cutting blows; cut.

6. to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usu. fol. by to): to hew to the tenets of a political party.

[before 900; Middle English; Old English hēawan, c. Old Saxon hauwan, Old High German houwan, Old Norse hǫggva]

hew′er, n.

HEW

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

hew

Past participle: hewed/hewn
Gerund: hewing

Imperative
hew
hew

Present
I hew
you hew
he/she/it hews
we hew
you hew
they hew

Preterite
I hewed
you hewed
he/she/it hewed
we hewed
you hewed
they hewed

Present Continuous
I am hewing
you are hewing
he/she/it is hewing
we are hewing
you are hewing
they are hewing

Present Perfect
I have hewed/hewn
you have hewed/hewn
he/she/it has hewed/hewn
we have hewed/hewn
you have hewed/hewn
they have hewed/hewn

Past Continuous
I was hewing
you were hewing
he/she/it was hewing
we were hewing
you were hewing
they were hewing

Past Perfect
I had hewed/hewn
you had hewed/hewn
he/she/it had hewed/hewn
we had hewed/hewn
you had hewed/hewn
they had hewed/hewn

Future
I will hew
you will hew
he/she/it will hew
we will hew
you will hew
they will hew

Future Perfect
I will have hewed/hewn
you will have hewed/hewn
he/she/it will have hewed/hewn
we will have hewed/hewn
you will have hewed/hewn
they will have hewed/hewn

Future Continuous
I will be hewing
you will be hewing
he/she/it will be hewing
we will be hewing
you will be hewing
they will be hewing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been hewing
you have been hewing
he/she/it has been hewing
we have been hewing
you have been hewing
they have been hewing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been hewing
you will have been hewing
he/she/it will have been hewing
we will have been hewing
you will have been hewing
they will have been hewing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been hewing
you had been hewing
he/she/it had been hewing
we had been hewing
you had been hewing
they had been hewing

Conditional
I would hew
you would hew
he/she/it would hew
we would hew
you would hew
they would hew

Past Conditional
I would have hewed/hewn
you would have hewed/hewn
he/she/it would have hewed/hewn
we would have hewed/hewn
you would have hewed/hewn
they would have hewed/hewn

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	hew - make or shape as with an axe; "hew out a path in the rock" hew out carve - form by carving; "Carve a flower from the ice" rough-hew, roughcast - hew roughly, without finishing the surface; "rough-hew stone or timber"
	2.	hew - strike with an axe; cut down, strike; "hew an oak" snag - hew jaggedly strike - deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon; "The teacher struck the child"; "the opponent refused to strike"; "The boxer struck the attacker dead" hew, hew out - make or shape as with an axe; "hew out a path in the rock"

hew

verb

1. cut, chop, axe, hack, split, lop He felled, peeled and hewed his own timber.

2. (Old-fashioned) carve, make, form, fashion, shape, model, sculpture, sculpt medieval monasteries hewn out of the rockface

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

hew

verb

To bring down, as with a saw or ax:

chop down, cut (down), fell.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

hew

[hjuː] (hewed (pt) (hewed) (hewn (pp))) VT (= cut) → cortar; [+ trees] → talar; (= shape, work) → labrar, tallar

hew down VT + ADV → talar

hew out VT + ADV → excavar
a figure hewn out of the rock → una figura tallada en la roca
to hew out a career → hacerse una carrera

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hew

(hjuː) – past tense hewed ; past participle hewed ~hewn (hjuːn) – verb

1. to cut with an axe, sword etc. He hewed down the tree.cortar, tajar, talar

2. to cut out or shape with an axe, sword etc. He hewed a path through the forest.talar

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

The warrior hews his way to the front, and behind him rally the disorganized soldiers of Helium.

View in context

Firm, faithful, and devoted, full of energy, and zeal, and truth, he labours for his race; he clears their painful way to improvement; he hews down like a giant the prejudices of creed and caste that encumber it.

View in context

A FIR-TREE said boastingly to the Bramble, "You are useful for nothing at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses." The Bramble answered: 'You poor creature, if you would only call to mind the axes and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have reason to wish that you had grown up a Bramble, not a Fir-Tree."

View in context

Therefore, it is the custom of Jikiza to hew off the heads of those whom he kills with the axe."

On to the cattle kraal, to the cattle kraal, People of the Axe, that I may hew this braggart's head from his shoulders.

View in context

It happened that the eldest wanted to go into the forest to hew wood, and before he went his mother gave him a beautiful sweet cake and a bottle of wine in order that he might not suffer from hunger or thirst.

But when he began to hew down a tree, it was not long before he made a false stroke, and the axe cut him in the arm, so that he had to go home and have it bound up.

View in context

The King saw at once that it was his own Queen, and immediately hewed asunder the iron chain that was fastened to the belt.

View in context

With one swing of his mighty longsword he laid a dozen corpses at his feet, and so he hewed a pathway before him until in another moment he stood upon the platform beside me, dealing death and destruction right and left.

View in context

We estimated the time spent in different activities by HEWs in Ethiopia using data from HEPCAPS II Project.

Unit Costing of Health Extension Worker Activities in Ethiopia: A Model for Managers at the District and Health Facility Level

HEWs are at the core of this system and play a key role in the HMIS, but their success continues to be hampered by poor infrastructure, especially in terms of communication (4) and human resources.

Women health extension workers: capacities, opportunities and challenges to use eHealth to strengthen equitable health systems in Southern Ethiopia