saw palmetto
noun
a shrublike palmetto, Serenoa repens, of the palm family, native to the southern U.S., having green or blue leafstalks set with spiny teeth.
a tall palm, Acoelorraphe wrightii, of Florida and the West Indies.
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Origin of saw palmetto
An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800
Words nearby saw palmetto
savvy, saw, saw doctor, saw grass, saw log, saw palmetto, saw pit, saw set, saw-off, saw-pit, saw-toothed
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for saw palmetto
The gobbler got back to land, and led us a fruitless chase into the thicket of saw-palmetto.
Voyage of the Paper Canoe|Nathaniel H. BishopI put out my hand and felt the ragged edge of saw-palmetto, then slipped in behind him, moving scarcely more than a yard a minute.
Wings of the Wind|Credo HarrisVery well; now, break a fan from that saw-palmetto and sweep a place for me on the ground—that way.
The Firing Line|Robert W. Chambers
British Dictionary definitions for saw palmetto
saw palmetto
noun
any of several dwarf prickly palms, esp any of the genus Sabal, of the southeastern US
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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