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hacksaw

or hack saw

[hak-saw]
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noun
  1. a saw for cutting metal, consisting typically of a narrow, fine-toothed blade fixed in a frame.
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Origin of hacksaw

First recorded in 1645–55; hack1 + saw1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hacksaw

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • A piece of brass tubing is then cut off with a hacksaw to form a brass bushing.

    Boys' Book of Model Boats

    Raymond Francis Yates

  • The lower end of this rod is slit with a hacksaw and the rudder is placed in this.

    Boys' Book of Model Boats

    Raymond Francis Yates

  • Slits are sawn across the bowl in the manner shown, using a hacksaw.

  • A vise with a bar of metal in it, half cut through and the hacksaw beside it.

    Omnilingual

    H. Beam Piper

  • It may then be sawn with a hacksaw, cut with a cold chisel, or filed into plates of the proper shape, as shown.

British Dictionary definitions for hacksaw

hacksaw

noun
  1. a handsaw for cutting metal, with a hard-steel blade in a frame under tension
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verb -saws, -sawing, -sawed, -sawed or -sawn (-ˌsɔːn)
  1. (tr) to cut with a hacksaw
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hacksaw

n.

first element from Old Norse höggva "to cut," from PIE *kau- "to hew, strike" (see hew) + saw (n.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper