Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Hew

Hew (hū) , transitive verb

[Anglo-Saxon heáwan; akin to Dutch houwen, Old High German houwan, German hauen, Icelandic hoggva, Swedish hugga, Danish hugge, Lithuanian kova battle, Russ. kovate to hammer, forge. Compare Hay cut grass, Hoe.]

1.
To cut with an ax; to fell with a sharp instrument; -- often with down, or off. — Shakespeare
2.
To form or shape with a sharp instrument; to cut; hence, to form laboriously; -- often with out; as, to hew out a sepulcher.
Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn. — Is. li. 1
Rather polishing old works than hewing out new. — Pope
3.
To cut in pieces; to chop; to hack.
Hew them to pieces; hack their bones asunder. — Shakespeare

Hew , noun

Destruction by cutting down. [Obsolete]
Of whom he makes such havoc and such hew. — Spenser

Hew , noun

1.
Hue; color. [Obsolete] — Chaucer
2.
Shape; form. [Obsolete] — Spenser