[hyoo or, often, yoo] 
verb, hewed, hewed or hewn, hew⋅ing.| 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. |
| 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. |
