sawbones
Americannoun
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sawbones,
plural
-
sawboneses
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sawbones
First recorded in 1830–40; saw 1 + bone + -s 3 ( def. )
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:
“Put the sawbones like me out of business.”
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 20, 2012
Small wonder that they have been dubbed "sawbones," or that they have always hated the unpleasant word.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Amid such scenes, sawbones of 16 nations got together last week for their first international meeting since before the war.
From Time Magazine Archive
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In New Winton's collection of characters the town sawbones, Dr. Bull, stands out like a large masculine thumb.
From Time Magazine Archive
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But it has made a nasty jagged scratch all the same, and we’ll get the sawbones at it soon as we’re in.
From Harley Greenoak's Charge by Bertram Mitford
"Well, I done just like you told me to, and them cussed sawboneses won't let me go back no more," Shade reported to Pap Himes that evening.
From The Power and the Glory by Arthur Ignatius Keller
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.