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hew away

 - 3 dictionary results

hew

  [hyoo or, often, yoo] verb, hewed, hewed or hewn, hew⋅ing.
Use hew away in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.
2. to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows: to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.
3. to sever (a part) from a whole by means of cutting blows (usually fol. by away, off, out, from, etc.): to hew branches from the tree.
4. to cut down; fell: to hew wood; trees hewed down by the storm.
–verb (used without object)
5. to strike with cutting blows; cut: He hewed more vigorously each time.
6. to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually fol. by to): to hew to the tenets of one's political party.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME hewen, OE hēawan; c. G hauen, ON hǫggva; akin to haggle

Related forms:
hew⋅a⋅ble, adjective
hewer, noun

Synonyms:
1. See cut. 2. form.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

hew 
O.E. heawan "to chop, hack, gash" (class VII strong verb; past tense heow, pp. heawen), earlier geheawan, from P.Gmc. *khawwanan (cf. O.N. hoggva, Du. houwen, Ger. hauen "to cut, strike, hew"), from PIE base *qau- "to strike, beat" (cf. O.C.S. kovo, Lith. kauju "to beat, forge;" L. cudere "to strike, beat;" M.Ir. cuad "beat, fight"). Weak pp. hewede appeared 14c. Seemingly contradictory sense of "hold fast, stick to" (in phrase hew to) developed from hew to the line "stick to a course," lit. "cut evenly with an axe or saw," first recorded 1891.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: HEW
Function: abbreviation
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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