hew

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

hew
    v 1: make or shape as with an axe; "hew out a path in the rock"
         [syn: {hew}, {hew out}]
    2: strike with an axe; cut down, strike; "hew an oak"

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hew \Hew\ (h[=u]), v. t. [imp. {Hewed} (h[=u]d); p. p. {Hewed}
   or {Hewn} (h[=u]n); p. pr. & vb. n. {Hewing}.] [AS.
   he['a]wan; akin to D. houwen, OHG. houwan, G. hauen, Icel.
   h["o]ggva, Sw. hugga, Dan. hugge, Lith. kova battle, Russ.
   kovate to hammer, forge. Cf. {Hay} cut grass, {Hoe}.]
   1. To cut with an ax; to fell with a sharp instrument; --
      often with down, or off. --Shak.
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   2. To form or shape with a sharp instrument; to cut; hence,
      to form laboriously; -- often with out; as, to hew out a
      sepulcher.
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            Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn. --Is. li. 1.
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            Rather polishing old works than hewing out new.
                                                  --Pope.
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   3. To cut in pieces; to chop; to hack.
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            Hew them to pieces; hack their bones asunder.
                                                  --Shak.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hew \Hew\, n.
   Destruction by cutting down. [Obs.]
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         Of whom he makes such havoc and such hew. --Spenser.
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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Hew \Hew\, n.
   1. Hue; color. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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   2. Shape; form. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

105 Moby Thesaurus words for "hew":
      amputate, ax, bisect, block out, blow down, blow over, bowl down,
      bowl over, bring down, bulldog, butcher, carve, cast, cast down,
      chisel, chop, chop down, cleave, create, cut, cut away, cut down,
      cut in two, cut off, dash down, deck, dichotomize, dissever, down,
      drop, efform, excise, fashion, fell, fetch down, figure, fissure,
      fix, floor, forge, form, formalize, found, frame, gash, ground,
      hack, halve, hew down, incise, jigsaw, knead, knock down,
      knock out, lance, lay level, lay low, lay out, level,
      lick into shape, mint, model, mold, mow down, pare, precipitate,
      prostrate, prune, pull down, rase, raze, rend, rive, rough out,
      roughcast, roughhew, saw, scissor, sculpt, sculpture,
      send headlong, set, sever, shape, slash, slice, slit, snip, split,
      spread-eagle, stamp, sunder, supinate, tailor, take down, tear,
      thermoform, throw, throw down, topple, trip, tumble, whack down,
      whittle, work