sawfish

American  

[saw-fish] / ˈsɔˌfɪʃ /

noun

• sawfish,
  plural
• sawfishes
  plural

1. a large, elongated ray of the genus Pristis, living along tropical coasts and lowland rivers, with a bladelike snout bearing strong teeth on each side.

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sawfish British  

/ ˈsɔːˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any sharklike ray of the family Pristidae of subtropical coastal waters and estuaries, having a serrated bladelike mouth

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sawfish
  plural
• sawfishes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sawfish

First recorded in 1655–65; saw ¹ + fish

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sawfish sawfishes

Seagrasses provide shelters, nurseries, and feeding grounds for thousands of species, including endangered animals such as dugongs, stalked jellyfish and smalltooth sawfish.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025

To find out, she and colleagues examined 17 genomes from various species of sharks, skates, and sawfish.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 12, 2023

This led them to sawfish, which swipe their tooth-studded saws to either injure or stun prey before vacuuming it up whole.

From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2023

In 2015, scientists found that 3 percent of a critically endangered sawfish population in Florida were conceived through parthenogenesis.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2023

It was soon after this close shave with the sawfish that Little Sword came once more across the path of the Inkmaker.

From Children of the Wild by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts

Seeing this, the sawfishes soon abandoned the attempt and with growls and roars of disappointment swam away and were quickly out of sight.

From The Sea Fairies by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

"Keep together, friends, and be careful not to separate, for here comes an army of sawfishes."

From The Sea Fairies by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum