kerf

[ kurf ]
See synonyms for kerf on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a cut or incision made by a saw or the like in a piece of wood.

  2. Mining. a deep cut a few inches high, used to undermine a portion of a coal or mineral seam.

  1. the act of cutting or carving.

verb (used with object)
  1. to make a kerf or kerfs in (a piece of wood, a coal seam, etc.).

Origin of kerf

1
before 1000; Middle English kerf, kirf,Old English cyrf a cutting (cognate with Old Frisian kerf); akin to carve

Words Nearby kerf

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use kerf in a sentence

  • Cut your kerf on the side toward the landing place, let the notch go half-way or a trifle more through the trunk.

  • When the first kerf is finished begin another one on the opposite side of the tree a little higher than the first one (Fig. 114).

  • Two pieces of wood are glued one on the top of the other, the required angle is transferred thereto, and the saw kerf made.

    Woodwork Joints | William Fairham
  • The first chips that flew were ten inches long, but they quickly dwindled as the kerf sank in.

    Two Little Savages | Ernest Thompson Seton
  • The butt-kerf was two-thirds through the tree when Yan called "One minute up."

    Two Little Savages | Ernest Thompson Seton

British Dictionary definitions for kerf

kerf

/ (kɜːf) /


noun
  1. the cut made by a saw, an axe, etc

Origin of kerf

1
Old English cyrf a cutting; related to Old English ceorfan to carve

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012