kerf

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kerf

/kɜː(ɹ)f/

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)f

Where it comes from

From Middle English kerf, kirf, kyrf, from Old English cyrf (“an act of cutting, a cutting off; a cutting instrument”), from Proto-West Germanic *kurbi, from Proto-Germanic *kurbiz (“a cut; notch; clipping”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Käärf, West Frisian kerf, Swedish korv. Related also to Dutch kerf, German Low German Karve, Karv, German Kerbe.

noun kerfs

archaic The act of cutting or carving something; a stroke or slice.
The groove or slit created by cutting or sawing something; an incision. They pass through a cleft that has been made across a low range of hills, like a kerf in the top of a log, and enter into a lovely territory of subtly swelling emerald green fields strewn randomly with small white capsules that he takes to be sheep.
The portion or quantity (e.g. of wood, hay, turf, wool, etc.) removed or cut off in a given stroke. 1991, Popular Mechanics, January issue, page 63, "Thin-kerf blades", by Rosario Capotostro Sawing with a thin-kerf blade produces a kerf that's 1/2 to 1/3 the size of a standard blade kerf.
The distance between diverging saw teeth. 1991, Popular Mechanics, January issue, page 63, "Thin-kerf blades", by Rosario Capotostro Sawing with a thin-kerf blade produces a kerf that's 1/2 to 1/3 the size of a standard blade kerf.
The flattened, cut-off end of a branch or tree; a stump or sawn-off cross-section. Sebastian, still not alone, is seated on the white-and-cinder-grey trunk of a felled tree. […] A Camberwell Beauty skims past and settles on the kerf, fanning its velvety wings.

verb kerfs · kerfing · kerfed

To cut a piece of wood or other material with several kerfs to allow it to be bent.

Translations

Every language

noun the groove or slit cut in the workpiece

Deutsch	Einschnitt, Kerbe, Nut, Schlitz, Schnittfuge, Fuge
Italiano	intaccatura
Русский	зару́бка zarúbka, надру́б nadrúb, пропи́л propíl

noun distance between diverging saw teeth

Español	traba
Français	voie
Deutsch	Schränkung

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MLA

"kerf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/kerf. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

kerf. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/kerf

Chicago

"kerf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/kerf.

BibTeX

@misc{kerf_2026,
  title = {kerf},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/kerf},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}