musical saw

American  

noun

1. a handsaw played as a musical instrument with a violin bow or a hammer while the saw is bent with varying tension to change the pitch.

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Etymology

Origin of musical saw

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

With Leftie and Lonnie en route to the cabin, the score pulses with what sounds like a ticking time bomb, plus something like an eerie musical saw for some extra shivers.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2025

Instruments involved: In New York City, Natalia Paruz is a professional bell ringer, musical saw player and occasional harpist.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2023

To understand the musical saw, imagine an S lying on its side, a line drawn through its center, positive above the line and negative below it.

From New York Times • May 1, 2022

She later roughed it out with other G.I.s sleeping in frosty dugouts near the front lines where she would sing and play a musical saw.

From Fox News • Dec. 4, 2020

I hadn’t figured out how an applehead doll measured up to a pyramid or how a musical saw stacked up to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney