hacksaw

or hack saw

[hak-saw]

noun

a saw for cutting metal, consisting typically of a narrow, fine-toothed blade fixed in a frame.

Origin of hacksaw

First recorded in 1645–55; hack¹ + saw¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hacksaw

Contemporary Examples of hacksaw

They dress in clothing from the flophouse lost-and-found and are groomed with a hacksaw and gravel rake.
Up to a Point: They Made Me Write About Lena Dunham
P. J. O’Rourke
December 13, 2014

Historical Examples of hacksaw

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.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2
Various
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.
The Boy Mechanic, Book 2
Various

British Dictionary definitions for hacksaw

hacksaw

noun

a handsaw for cutting metal, with a hard-steel blade in a frame under tension

verb -saws, -sawing, -sawed, -sawed or -sawn (-ˌsɔːn)

(tr) to cut with a hacksaw

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

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