Standard Lemma guide

kerf

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kɜː(ɹ)f/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)f

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of cutting or carving something; a stroke or slice.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The groove or slit created by cutting or sawing something; an incision.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The portion or quantity (e.g. of wood, hay, turf, wool, etc.) removed or cut off in a given stroke.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The distance between diverging saw teeth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The flattened, cut-off end of a branch or tree; a stump or sawn-off cross-section.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: рязка (rjazka) — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Finnish: lovi — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Finnish: uurros — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • German: Einschnitt — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • German: Kerbe — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • German: Nut — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • German: Schlitz — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • German: Schnittfuge — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • German: Fuge — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Italian: intaccatura — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Russian: зару́бка (zarúbka) — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Russian: надру́б (nadrúb) — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Russian: пропи́л (propíl) — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Slovene: (u)rez — the groove or slit cut in the workpiece
  • Finnish: uurros — distance between diverging saw teeth
  • French: voie — distance between diverging saw teeth
  • German: Schränkung — distance between diverging saw teeth
  • Slovene: zareza — distance between diverging saw teeth
  • Slovene: širina reza žage — distance between diverging saw teeth
  • Spanish: traba — distance between diverging saw teeth