kuć

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kùti (“to forge”)[1], from Proto-Balto-Slavic *káuˀtei[1], from Proto-Indo-European *kowh₂-e-ti[1], from the root *kewh₂- (“to hit, strike, forge”).

Cognate with Czech kout[1], Bulgarian кова́ (ková)[1], Russian кова́ть (kovátʹ)[1], Lithuanian káuti (“to smite”)[1][2], kovà (“fight”)[2], Latin cūdere[1][2] and Old High German houwan[1].

• IPA^(key): /kut͡ɕ/

• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ut͡ɕ
• Syllabification: kuć

kuć impf

1. (transitive) to forge (to shape a metal)
   • 1823, Adam Mickiewicz, Grażyna, Józef Zawadzki, historical note 22:

     Szabla jego w Litwie kuta.

     His saber [was] forged in Lithuania.

   • 2021, Agnieszka Szygenda, Wszystko gra‎, Wydawnictwo Estymator, page 21:

     Barnaba postanowił kuć żelazo, póki gorące.

     Barnaba decided to forge the iron while it's hot.

   • 2022, Amor Towles, Lincoln Highway‎, Znak, archived from the original on 2022-07-31, page 589:

     Lepiej, żeby kowal kuł coś innego. Na przykład, na przykład, na przykład miecz.

     It's better for the blacksmith to forge something else. Like, like, like a sword.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bić

2. (transitive, usually in the passive participle) to coat with metal
   • 1895 (first published 1834), Lord Byron, Adam Mickiewicz, transl., Giaur, S. Lewental:

     Już bliżéj: Turcy — już widzę turbany
     I w srebrem kutych pochwach atagany.

     Now [they are] closer: Turks – I already see their turbans
     and yatagans in sheaths coated with silver.

3. (transitive) to shoe (to put horseshoes on a horse)
4. (transitive) to carve, to cut (to make a hole in a hard material by cutting away parts of it)
   • 1853, Ignacy Hołowiński, Pielgrzymka do Ziemi Świętéj‎, 2nd edition, B. M. Wolff, page 266:

     Liczne cysterny, czyli głębokie studnie kute w opoce dla zbierania deszczowéj wody widzieć tam można.

     Numerous cisterns, that is, deep wells carved into the bedrock to collect rainwater, can be seen there.

   • 1858, Teodor Narbutt, Dzieje narodu litewskiego‎, volume 9, Drukarnia A. Marcinowskiego, archived from the original on 2022-07-31, page 308:

     Świat się dziwił, gdy kazała kuć drogę w górach Tyrolskich dla przeprowadzenia swych wozów, tak ogromnych i ładownych, jakie jeszcze nigdy tamtędy do Włoch nie przechodziły.

     The world was shocked when she ordered that a road be cut through the mountains of Tyrol to bring through her wagons, [which were] so enormous and heavily laden that, still, none like them had ever come from there to Italy.

5. (transitive or intransitive, of a woodpecker) to peck at [+accusative] or [+ w (accusative) = a tree]
6. (intransitive or reflexive, colloquial) to cram, to swot; to learn by rote

• kuć in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• kuć in Polish dictionaries at PWN