; hewing
J. T. ShotwellJ. P. O'DonnellJoshua 9:21 (Authorized Version)Emilio Abello
Did you know?
Without context, the contrasting meanings of hew may seem arbitrary. What does shaping something with an ax have to do with conforming or adhering to something? If you're not a lumberjack, that's okay, we'll explain. The connection lies in the woodworking phrase "hew to the line," where line refers to the mark along the length of a log indicating where to chop in order to shape a beam. "Hewing to the line," literally, is cutting along the mark—adhering to it—until the side of the log is squared. In the 1800s, "hew to the line" was used figuratively as half of the idiom "hew to the line, let the chips fall where they may," to advise someone to stay true to a course of action, whatever the consequences may be. Over time the latter half of the phrase has been, well, hewn off.
Examples of hew in a Sentence
Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 12 June 2026
The downside is that managers can end up hewing too closely to their indexes and miss the forest for the trees.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 11 June 2026
The downside is that managers can end up hewing too closely to their indexes and miss the forest for the trees.
—Bloomberg, Oc Register, 10 June 2026
That complexity is true even of the tracks that hew more closely to traditional dance-music sounds.
—Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 4 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for hew
Cite this Entry
“Hew.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hew. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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