Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To hew coarsely without smoothing, as timber; hence, to give a rough or crude form to, as if by hewing.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To hew coarsely, without smoothing.
- transitive verb To give the first form or shape to; to form rudely; to shape approximately and rudely; to roughcast.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
hew coarsely , withoutsmoothing . - verb transitive, figuratively To give the first
form orshape to; to form rudely and approximately; toroughcast .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb hew roughly, without finishing the surface
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
rough + hew
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Examples
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Believe me, there is an invisible hand that will support you when you least expect it; a power that shapes our purposes, roughhew them as we will.
The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain The Works of William Carleton, Volume One William Carleton 1831
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