to strike forcibly with an ax, sword, or other cutting instrument; chop; hack.
to make, shape, smooth, etc., with cutting blows.
to hew a passage through the crowd; to hew a statue from marble.
to sever (a part) from a whole by means of cutting blows (usually followed by away, off, out, from, etc.).
to hew branches from the tree.
to cut down; fell.
to hew wood; trees hewed down by the storm.
to strike with cutting blows; cut.
He hewed more vigorously each time.
to uphold, follow closely, or conform (usually followed byto ).
to hew to the tenets of one's political party.
to strike (something, esp wood) with cutting blows, as with an axe
to shape or carve from a substance
(tr; often foll by away, down, from, off, etc) to sever from a larger or another portion
to conform (to a code, principle, etc)
See cut.
First recorded before 900; Middle English hewen, Old English hēawan; cognate with German hauen, Old Norse hǫggva; akin to haggle
If you're a lumberjack, the word hew is nothing new. You hew things every day with one swift swing of the axe, chopping and shaping wood. It's said that Paul Bunyan hewed the Grand Canyon by dragging his giant mythical axe behind him. But usually things are hewn with a little more purpose — with each chop and cut designed to shape, sculpt, or craft a final product. Take the axe out of the picture though, and this word takes on a different meaning. If you're trying to adhere to rules, stick to a budget, or conform to a certain tradition, you can use hew, too.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These automated strategies routinely buy and sell large quantities of stocks over the course of the year to hew to an index, and any influx of cash into the account will very quickly be redeployed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
The deals appear to closely hew to the same lines as the earlier deals with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which were seen as significant wins for the industry.
From Barron's ● Dec. 19, 2025
With changes to tax law, the Dec. 31 deadline has become almost arbitrary, yet people still hew to old habits.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 19, 2025
Wiegman's watch notification during hew news conference reminded her of a workout she was due to have.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2025
Four trees are wanted for the Keel, which all together will measure 146 feet in length, and hew 16 inches square.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Soon after, on April 28, the HEW secretary signed off on the regulations, handing a victory to Ms. Heumann and her fellow demonstrators back in San Francisco.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2023
But, while programs like Medicare did become integral parts of American society, HEW did have too much on its plate: about a decade later, it was split into two separate agencies.
From Time ● Jan. 17, 2017
HEW Secretary John Gardner, recognizing the enormity of the task, decided to call in as much staff as necessary to enforce the law, Smith says.
From US News ● Jul. 29, 2015
There is much less likelihood that HEW would be capitive to agribusiness interests.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2014
After halting the Tuskegee study, HEW proposed new Protection of Human Subjects regulations that would require, among other things, informed consent.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
At the same time, “‘Master Harold,’” which hews closely to Fugard’s own experiences, is a tale of hope.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
Mr. Daugherty’s study hews closely to the details of his subject’s life, while Mr. Streitfeld’s is organized more around McMurtry’s formidable body of work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
It isn’t yet clear how close that opinion hews to Selig’s own.
From Barron's ● Nov. 19, 2025
A writers’ room rule to which Kripke hews closely is that what’s bad for the world is good for the show.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2024
Then comes the barker and loader, the man who hews off the bark from that part of the log which is to drag on the snow, and assists the teamster in loading.
From Forest Life and Forest Trees: comprising winter camp-life among the loggers, and wild-wood adventure. with Descriptions of lumbering operations on the various rivers of Maine and New Brunswick by Springer, John S.
A less-frequent Gallup survey specifically about whether the stock market will rise in the next six months hewed to the same pattern.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Selfies were becoming more prevalent as social media grew, and standards of beauty hewed close to celebrity Kim Kardashian’s looks, especially in regards to eye makeup and products used for face contouring.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 7, 2026
Much of the wood was hand-sawn then hewed into shape with axes, just as the beams were in the 13th century.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2024
Essentially, what you realize is it’s the foundations of a story and all the in-between things are going to be hewed out on the day.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2024
She and Jimmy hewed to the path that was so well- worn that the feet of Negro college graduates like them were trained to walk it almost automatically.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Video released by the US Justice Department shows apparently well-made concrete steps leading into the tunnel, which appears to be hewn from rock and with a concrete floor.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
But when he got it right, his lyrics had an aphoristic directness that made them seem more hewn than written.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
Its throwing arm, currently at 12 o’clock, weighs 360 pounds and is not hewn or sanded; knots are visible in the wood.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
Four fresh graves hewn from claylike soil in a historic cemetery where the newly dead are crowding out the old.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
Over the carcass of the horse, they built a platform of hewn logs; trunks of smaller trees and limbs from the greater, and the thickest straightest branches they could find.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Johann Sebastian Bach composed some of his best works by hewing to a self-imposed fugal format.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
Some vessels have exited the strait after making a brief diversion through a channel between two islands off Iran’s coast, Larak and Qeshm, and hewing close to Iran’s coast.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 17, 2026
But being a politician occasionally requires actual leadership, which means working to persuade voters of the merits of a position, rather than reflexively hewing to public opinion at any given moment.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
Traditional European breweries — like those run by Belgian monks hewing to centuries-old methods — retain the fruity signature of yeast in its untamed, lupine form, he said.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
Wilhelm catches a swan-maiden, and later releases her from an enchanted mountain by hewing trees, separating grain, and finding his wife among three hundred women.
From The Grateful Dead The History of a Folk Story by Gerould, Gordon Hall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.