saw
noun
a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.
Showing results for "saw"
- past tense form of see.
saw
1 American
[saw]
/ sɔ /
noun
-
a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.
-
any similar tool or device, as a rotating disk, in which a sharp continuous edge replaces the teeth.
verb (used with object)
sawed,
sawed,
sawn,
sawing
-
to cut or divide with a saw.
-
to form by cutting with a saw.
-
to make cutting motions as if using a saw.
to saw the air with one's hands.
-
to work (something) from side to side like a saw.
verb (used without object)
sawed,
sawed,
sawn,
sawing
-
to use a saw.
-
to cut with or as if with a saw.
-
to cut as a saw does.
idioms
saw
2
American
[saw]
/ sɔ /
verb
saw
3
American
[saw]
/ sɔ /
noun
saw
1
British
/ sɔː /
noun
-
any of various hand tools for cutting wood, metal, etc, having a blade with teeth along one edge
-
any of various machines or devices for cutting by use of a toothed blade, such as a power-driven circular toothed wheel or toothed band of metal
verb
-
to cut with a saw
-
to form by sawing
-
to cut as if wielding a saw
to saw the air
-
to move (an object) from side to side as if moving a saw
SAW
2
British
abbreviation
saw
3
British
/ sɔː /
verb
saw
4
British
/ sɔː /
noun
saw
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of saw1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun sau(e), soue, zaue, Old English saga, sagu; cognate with Dutch zaag, Old Norse sǫg, German Säge, all meaning “saw”; akin to Latin secāre “to cut,” Old English seax “short sword, knife, dagger”; the verb is derivative of the noun; see also sax 2, section
Origin of saw3
First recorded before 950; Middle English sau(e), sauhe, sagh(e) “talk, words, something said,” Old English sagu “a saying, speech, narrative”; cognate with German Sage “legend, fable, myth, tradition,” Old Norse saga “statement, tale, story, history”; see also saga, say 1
Explanation
A saw is a tool that's used to cut wood. It can be a hand tool or a power tool, and it usually has either a blade or a disk with a jagged cutting edge. The verb saw means to cut through wood or another material using a saw or other tool. If you are going to build a bookcase, you have to saw the wood into the proper lengths. It's a good idea to measure it twice so you only have to saw it once. When you're faced with a tough piece of meat, you might have to saw at it just to cut off a bite.
Vocabulary lists containing saw
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Her warmth, spirit and fight for justice and action that we saw on our screens continued long after the programme ended, with a lifetime of campaigning where she changed the lives of millions," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
A local resident who rang the police said she saw a group of masked men near the vans, which were blocking a road in a village next to the military base.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
“I didn’t exactly see what happened. I kind of saw the aftermath,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told reporters after the game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
Markets saw a turbulent summer: the AI trade stumbled as semiconductor stocks fell, hedge fund Situational Awareness suffered a bruising decline and leveraged investors unwound their riskiest positions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
One day, near a wood, they saw a large hunting party.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
Traditional SAW devices typically max out at around 4 gigahertz, making the new system far faster.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 17, 2026
I SAW a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2022
THE “TEENS” SAW one of the biggest booms in Seattle history, with the city leading the national crane count for years and enjoying an unusually diverse economy.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2020
I SAW a girl on a Manhattan-bound subway train one day wearing a knockoff Louis Vuitton head scarf and false eyelashes long enough to make a daddy longlegs envious.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2014
I SAW her across the room when I awoke, reading a newspaper, her glasses low across the bridge of her nose as she stared at the page intently.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Performance and illusion are recurring themes: A woman is sawed in half in a depiction of classic stagecraft; elsewhere a juggler manipulates ovoids that each contain an everyday vignette.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
But it also means that the horns grow back and need to be sawed off repeatedly.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
There’s no guarantee the Chargers will pass through the gate of golden opportunity, but this 2-0 team has sawed the lock off the latch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2025
He came, he sawed, he conq—well, he left.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2025
He made them take off their shoes and stockings and stand in their bare feet on his green carpet while they sawed away.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Emergency workers stood on the charred roof, still smelling of burning, sawing off damaged sections and tossing the debris into a pile.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
The high-pitched sound of an angle grinder sawing through glass echoed through the hall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
He said: "The finances aren't good, the margins are wafer thin. It's a lot of sawing for not much sawdust, as my grandfather used to say."
From BBC ● May 27, 2025
I saw one guy in a pickup had stopped and was sawing off the head of a dead stag — presumably for the antlers, but maybe he was just hungry.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2024
True to form, Rubio is sawing logs, and Suma and Feathers are sleeping peacefully below him in their cramped cells.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
It had been in my family for three generations — an upright of quarter sawn oak that probably hadn’t been properly tuned for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
He pointed out the painting had been "roughly sawn to get it into a frame", which the owner said his mother had done to make it fit.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2023
The Customs Department said in a statement it discovered the contraband hidden behind sawn timber following checks on July 10 on a ship coming from Africa.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2022
Rift sawn white oak flooring grounds the space.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2022
It smelled sweetly of varnish and freshly sawn cedar.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
