Hew is a verb meaning to chop or cut with repeated blows, especially with an ax or sword, or to shape something with cutting tools. In some uses, it also means to adhere closely to or conform to something. The noun form is rare but can refer to a wedge or cut in woodworking or a division made by cutting.
"The lumberjack will hew the logs into rough planks before they’re finished."
"He vowed to hew to the agreement and not deviate."
"The carpenter hewed the block carefully to fit the frame."
"The blade’s edge will help him hew through the tough wood with precision."
Hew derives from Old English hegian or heowan, with cognates in Old Norse hea, meaning to cut or strike. The sense of striking or cutting with a tool for shaping wood or stone appears early in Germanic languages. In Middle English, hewen or hew gained the notion of shaping material through repeated blows with an axe or adze. By the 14th century, hew commonly described cutting along a line or into pieces, later expanding to the broader sense of conforming to rules or expectations (as in hew to a path). The verb often appeared in legal and architectural texts where precise cutting and shaping were essential. The noun sense—referring to a notch, incision, or the act of hewing in woodwork—emerges in technical contexts such as carpentry and quarrying. The semantic shift toward “to adhere to” (as in “hew to one’s word”) reflects metaphorical extension from the physical act of maintaining a cut or boundary to maintaining consistency with standards. Historically, the pronunciation retained the /h/ and /uː/ or /juː/ vowel quality depending on dialect, with older spellings showing wide variation before standardization in Modern English. First known use appears in Old English texts, with substantial usage by the 9th–12th centuries in descriptions of lumbering and stonecutting. Modern usage keeps two primary meanings near the edge of cutting and adherence, sometimes conflated in literary contexts.
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Words that rhyme with "Hew"
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Hew is pronounced with an initial /h/ followed by a /juː/ sequence, commonly realized as /hjuː/ in US/UK/AU English. The consonant cluster begins with a breathy /h/ and includes a strong /j/ semi-vowel before the long /uː/ vowel. Keep the tongue high for the /j/ and then glide into /uː/. Stress falls on the single syllable word. IPA: US/UK/AU /hjuː/.
Common mistakes: (1) Dropping the /j/ and saying /huː/ without the /j/—add the /j/ sound to avoid the flat vowel. (2) Mispronouncing as /hu:/ with a British short vowel; keep the long /uː/ quality. (3) Thinking it rhymes with ‘new’ or ‘few’ without the /h/; always start with a voiceless /h/. Correct by cueing a tiny /j/ after /h/ and lengthening the vowel to /juː/.
In all three, the initial /h/ is present, but the /juː/ quality can vary: US often pronounces it as /hjuː/ with a clear /j/ after /h/, UK tends toward /hjuː/ but may have slightly tighter lip rounding; AU tends to maintain /hjuː/ but with a more centralized vowel quality and faster vowel reduction in casual speech. Overall, rhotics don’t affect this word since it centers on the /j/ and /uː/ sequence.
The difficulty lies in the /hj/ cluster: several speakers produce /huː/ without the /j/ or insert an extra vowel between /h/ and /uː/. Achieve accuracy by practicing the raised palatal approximant /j/ right after /h/—imagine saying ‘he’ with a subtle ‘y’ onset, then lengthen into /juː/. Also maintain the long /uː/ without diphthong slippage; keep mouth rounded and jaw slightly lowered. IPA cues help: /hjuː/.
Yes—its history-centered cluster /hj/ is unusual for many common verbs and can be misheard as /huː/ or /hjuː/ with variable length. The critical feature is the /j/ liaison immediately after /h/, creating a tight syllable with a long /uː/. Visualizing the tongue moving toward the palate for /j/ while keeping the lips rounded for /uː/ can help you land the exact sound.
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