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PlainSpell

hew

/hjuː/verb

hew is spelled H-E-W: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “hew vs hue” about 20 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, hew means “To chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in hew?

Letters3: H-E-W
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 46,473rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is hew?

Hew appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce hew?

  • US /hjuː/
  • US [çuː]

Hew has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hew.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with hew

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

hew vs hue20 G

Sounds like: Hugh, hue (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with hew?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hew from its last stressed vowel (/u/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: weh.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of hew

  • hews present, singular, he/she/it
  • hewing participle, present
  • hewed past, participle
  • hewn participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does hew mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down.

  2. 2

    To shape; to form.

    to hew out a sepulchre

  3. 3

    USTo act according to, to conform to; usually construed with to.

    Few men measured up to his standard of righteousness; he hewed to the line.

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleterareDestruction by cutting down or hewing.

  2. 2

    obsoleteHue; colour.

  3. 3

    obsoleteShape; form.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Hew in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtailler (to chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down), façonner, modeler (to shape; to form), se conformer, accommoder, assujettir (to act according to)
Germaneinhauen, behauen, bearbeiten, hauen (to chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down)
Portuguesedesbastar (to chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down), moldar (to shape; to form)
Spanishcortar (to chop away at; to whittle down; to mow down), tallar, labrar, esculpir (to shape; to form)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does hew come from?

From Middle English hewen, from Old English hēawan, from Proto-West Germanic *hauwan, from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to strike, hew, forge”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after hew