saw
noun
a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.
Showing results for "saw"
- past tense form of see.
saw
1 American
[saw]
/ sɔ /
noun
-
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.
verb (used with object)
sawed,
sawed,
sawn,
sawing
-
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.
verb (used without object)
sawed,
sawed,
sawn,
sawing
-
to use a saw.
-
to cut with or as if with a saw.
-
to cut as a saw does.
idioms
saw
2
American
[saw]
/ sɔ /
verb
saw
3
American
[saw]
/ sɔ /
noun
saw
1
British
/ sɔː /
noun
-
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
verb
-
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
SAW
2
British
abbreviation
saw
3
British
/ sɔː /
verb
saw
4
British
/ sɔː /
noun
saw
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of saw1
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
Origin of saw3
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
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing saw
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"But on that day, we saw a man half his body weight and desperate beyond belief."
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
I also saw the reality of more than 260 days at sea with more than 150 days in a combat zone, while speaking with sailors in spaces most guests don’t see.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Experts say the abrupt about-face on California’s once-heralded nuclear exit reflects a broader trend as the state grapples with an electricity future almost no one saw coming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
That old saw about being careful what you wish for comes to mind.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
The light, airy butterflies I used to feel when I saw him whip their red flags, scratch the walls of my stomach.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Traditional SAW devices typically max out at around 4 gigahertz, making the new system far faster.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 17, 2026
I SAW a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2022
THE “TEENS” SAW one of the biggest booms in Seattle history, with the city leading the national crane count for years and enjoying an unusually diverse economy.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2020
“HE SAW HER LIVE,” an ad for the event read, using the same image.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2018
YOU are the one who did something wrong, I say, because I SAW him push William H. out of his Personal Space.
From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine
In director Guillermo del Toro’s take on the classic fable Frankenstein, Elordi glows an undead white as the monster, his body a patchwork of human parts sawed off of Crimean War corpses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2025
He came, he sawed, he conq—well, he left.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2025
For the majority of Americans, one of those legs has been effectively sawed off without an available pension.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2024
That’s where she sawed apart a pair of her high heels to see what they were made of.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2024
The music she played was the kind that sawed through you, cutting into the secret chambers of your heart and setting the sadness free.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
The competition, which Hayward has been hosting since 1960, brings people from across America and around the world together to showcase their skills in everything from logrolling, chopping and sawing to speed climbing.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Emergency workers stood on the charred roof, still smelling of burning, sawing off damaged sections and tossing the debris into a pile.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
That’s like sawing the magician in half and never putting them back together again.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
The high-pitched sound of an angle grinder sawing through glass echoed through the hall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
She lay awake most of the night listening to Rachel cough, the sound rasping and sawing through her own body.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
It had been in my family for three generations — an upright of quarter sawn oak that probably hadn’t been properly tuned for years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
Hampered by his left knee for so long, he had just got back to chest-pumping all-rounder status in the home summer when he was sawn off by his hamstring.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2024
Rift sawn white oak flooring grounds the space.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2022
The tree trunks are laid in the street in front of the homes of those who purchase them, to be sawn down in backyard workshops.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2022
The shelves on which they stood smelled of freshly sawn wood.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
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.
