saw
noun
a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.
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:
Speculative activity in EchoStar saw its stock jump more than 5% before the open, to trade around $102.50.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Fox News, which often draws more viewers in prime time than one or more of the broadcast networks, saw its October audience levels drop 28% compared to a year ago, according to Nielsen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
Belgium and Luxemburg saw some of the worst damage, with 40 Delhaize supermarkets affected, and incidents also took place in stores across Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
After a campaign marked by growing pains and controversy, the league saw the Golden State Valkyries take down the Atlanta Dream in just their second year of existence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
The kids we saw earlier are climbing a huge tree, racing to see which one of them can get higher.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Most existing SAW systems require two separate chips and an external power source.
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
That group, SAW Inc., told reporters it is cooperating with investigators.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2021
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
In director Guillermo del Toro’s take on the classic fable Frankenstein, Elordi glows an undead white as the monster, his body a patchwork of human parts sawed off of Crimean War corpses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2025
He came, he sawed, he conq—well, he left.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2025
Goldie's mate, Regina, had her own adventure when she was snatched the following February by student pranksters at Manchester University who sawed through a padlock to access the cage.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2025
But my green thumb ached as workers sawed down the tree, took away everything — trunk, twigs, leaves, fruit, roots — in biohazard bags and tagged the remaining trees with a bill of clean health.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
The rungs have been roughly sawed, and his palms take splinters the whole way.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The competition, which Hayward has been hosting since 1960, brings people from across America and around the world together to showcase their skills in everything from logrolling, chopping and sawing to speed climbing.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
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
This felt manageable until I found myself, a few weeks in, sawing at a kabocha squash with a butter knife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025
Aegon's carpenters had shaped it after the land of Westerns, sawing out each bay and peninsula until the table nowhere ran straight.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
A giant gorilla statue which was stolen from a Lanarkshire garden centre a year ago was "sawn in half" before being discarded under a hedge, according to its owner.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
Rift sawn white oak flooring grounds the space.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2022
The tree trunks are laid in the street in front of the homes of those who purchase them, to be sawn down in backyard workshops.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2022
The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn rings of old trunks.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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