jigsaw

[ jig-saw ]

noun

1. Also jig saw. an electric machine saw with a narrow blade mounted vertically in a frame, for cutting curves or other difficult lines or patterns.

verb (used with object)

, jig·sawed, jig·sawed or jig·sawn, jig·saw·ing.

1. to cut or form with a jigsaw.

adjective

1. formed by or as if by a jigsaw:

   jigsaw ornamentation.

jigsaw

/ ˈdʒɪɡˌsɔː /

noun

1. a mechanical saw with a fine steel blade for cutting intricate curves in sheets of material
2. See jigsaw puzzle
   See jigsaw puzzle

Word History and Origins

Origin of jigsaw¹

First recorded in 1870–75; jig ² + saw ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of jigsaw¹

C19: from jig (to jerk up and down rapidly) + saw ¹

Example Sentences

This might mean working with your hands, or doing a jigsaw puzzle.

From Washington Post

That complicated jigsaw cover prepares you for what’s inside.

From Time

Crystal Sanchez, who works on digital collections for the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, is a founder of Puzzle Swap, plunging deep into the jigsaw realm during the government shutdown of 2013.

From Washington Post

Construction sites are vast jigsaws of people and parts that must be pieced together just so at just the right times.

From MIT Technology Review

Lay your base first—we used half-inch sanded plywood, cut to fit with a jigsaw.

From Outside Online

When he looks at the neatly compiled jigsaw puzzle of his life, however, he feels empty, deeply dissatisfied.

From The Daily Beast

Every scene fits together like a jigsaw puzzle piece by the end of the book, when the reader finally knows everything.

From The Daily Beast

All of which connect together like a jigsaw as the story progresses.

From The Daily Beast

So, I started writing to this girl Tobi Vail who had a fanzine called Jigsaw, and she was very supportive.

From The Daily Beast

For Cusk, it is “a jigsaw dismantled into a heap of broken-edged pieces.”

From The Daily Beast

The whole thing begins to have a jigsaw look, like a child's toy rack with wooden soldiers on it, expanding and contracting.

From Project Gutenberg

Painfully he pulled fragments of pictures out of the past, assembled a jigsaw of wild action.

From Project Gutenberg

Perhaps Margaret Skidmore would be able to supply another piece of the jigsaw.

From Project Gutenberg

Close up, it was a tremendous jigsaw puzzle of blocks that weighed tons.

From Project Gutenberg

It looked like some sort of jigsaw puzzle that he was piecing together very carefully, very— what's the word?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• break
• crack
• damage
• divide
• grab
• injure
• mangle
• pull
• rive
• rupture
• separate
• sever
• shred
• slash
• snatch
• split
• wrench
• yank