a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.
any similar tool or device, as a rotating disk, in which a sharp continuous edge replaces the teeth.
to cut or divide with a saw.
to form by cutting with a saw.
to make cutting motions as if using a saw.
to saw the air with one's hands.
to work (something) from side to side like a saw.
to use a saw.
to cut with or as if with a saw.
to cut as a saw does.
any of various hand tools for cutting wood, metal, etc, having a blade with teeth along one edge
any of various machines or devices for cutting by use of a toothed blade, such as a power-driven circular toothed wheel or toothed band of metal
to cut with a saw
to form by sawing
to cut as if wielding a saw
to saw the air
to move (an object) from side to side as if moving a saw
First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun sau(e), soue, zaue, Old English saga, sagu; cognate with Dutch zaag, Old Norse sǫg, German Säge, all meaning “saw”; akin to Latin secāre “to cut,” Old English seax “short sword, knife, dagger”; the verb is derivative of the noun; see also sax 2, section
First recorded before 950; Middle English sau(e), sauhe, sagh(e) “talk, words, something said,” Old English sagu “a saying, speech, narrative”; cognate with German Sage “legend, fable, myth, tradition,” Old Norse saga “statement, tale, story, history”; see also saga, say 1
A saw is a tool that's used to cut wood. It can be a hand tool or a power tool, and it usually has either a blade or a disk with a jagged cutting edge. The verb saw means to cut through wood or another material using a saw or other tool. If you are going to build a bookcase, you have to saw the wood into the proper lengths. It's a good idea to measure it twice so you only have to saw it once. When you're faced with a tough piece of meat, you might have to saw at it just to cut off a bite.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
BBC News saw a copy of that indictment, which contained allegations that Murrell had embezzled £459,000 from the SNP between August 2010 and January 2023.
From BBC • May 25, 2026
Near the start of that period the Greeks saw the Persians, rulers of a vast empire, overreach themselves and fail in two invasions of Europe, the second time catastrophically.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
My friend Fish saw it and said, “You should walk to all the Erewhons.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026
Research from the University of Exeter found that older adults who drank nitrate rich beetroot juice twice a day for two weeks saw their blood pressure fall.
From Science Daily • May 25, 2026
Once when it was my turn at the air-hole, I saw in the moonlight trainmen carrying a length of twisted rail.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
