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hew(2) (iou)



hew verb. [hju:] Pa. pple hewn [hju:n], hewed.

verb intrans. Deal cutting blows (at, among, etc.). OE.
Tolkien In a fury he hewed at them with his sword.
verb trans. gen. Chop or cut, with an axe, sword, etc. Freq. in pass. OE.
C. Kingsley His casque and armour..were hewn and battered by a hundred blows.
verb trans. Cut into shape with cutting or chopping blows of an axe etc. OE.
rough-hew: see ROUGH adverb.
C. Thubron Some of the stones are hewn smooth, others left jagged.
verb trans. Chop or cut down etc.; fell (timber); cut (coal) from a seam. OE.
G. K. Chesterton The invaders were hewn down horribly with black steel. G. L. Harding Those who hewed the stone from the local quarries.
verb trans. Sever (a part from the whole) with cutting blows, cut away, off, etc. OE.
E. A. Freeman The fragments of rock left when the rest is hewn away.
verb trans. Make or produce by hewing. (Foll. by out, into, etc.) OE.
hew one's way make a way for oneself by hewing.
B. Malamud Rough steps that had been hewn into the rocky hills.
verb trans. Divide with cutting blows; chop (a thing) into pieces. Now chiefly (arch.) in hew asunder, hew in pieces, hew to pieces, etc. LME.
verb trans. & intrans. Of a horse etc.: strike (a foot etc.) against, upon another foot etc. in going. Cf. CUT verb 30. E16-E19.
fig. Conform to. N. Amer. L19.
New Yorker Even Sandra Day O'Connor..has not reliably hewed to the Reagan agenda.