saw
noun
a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.
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:
“We saw the creation of more critical and rational societies. In Latin America, that is not happening,” said Lagos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
In his video interview, Zitouni said he saw a crowd of people come through the train shouting "there's a guy with a knife", to which he said "a guy with a knife, are you sure?"
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
"We also found that females with APOE4 saw the greatest improvement in brain blood flow, which is significant given that nearly two-thirds of people with Alzheimer's are women," she said.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Shortly afterwards, an AFP reporter saw a silver car with Najib inside leaving the Kajang Prison compound, followed by a convoy of vehicles.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
Santana saw Abigail and heard the barking of the dogs getting close.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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
But the most appealing option — at least, for SAW — remains a return to high school football in the fall.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 2, 2020
I SAW a girl on a Manhattan-bound subway train one day wearing a knockoff Louis Vuitton head scarf and false eyelashes long enough to make a daddy longlegs envious.
From New York Times ● Nov. 29, 2014
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
Alan Dorfman held an Etch A Sketch over a laundry tub, picked up a hacksaw and sawed the device in half, spilling silver powder everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
But it also means that the horns grow back and need to be sawed off repeatedly.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
He came, he sawed, he conq—well, he left.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2025
But my green thumb ached as workers sawed down the tree, took away everything — trunk, twigs, leaves, fruit, roots — in biohazard bags and tagged the remaining trees with a bill of clean health.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2024
They passed massive boulders, the stumps of newly sawed trees, splinters of shattered ones.
From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara
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
The high-pitched sound of an angle grinder sawing through glass echoed through the hall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
He said: "The finances aren't good, the margins are wafer thin. It's a lot of sawing for not much sawdust, as my grandfather used to say."
From BBC ● May 27, 2025
Danko’s sawing fiddle suggests that the song is rooted in Appalachian folk, but the number takes some unexpected turns, such as the bass line played on tuba by producer John Simon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2023
If he wasn’t hitting, sawing, or building something, he wasn’t happy.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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
A statue of British naval officer James Cook, who in 1770 charted Sydney’s coast, was sawn off at the ankles, and a Queen Victoria monument was doused in red paint.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
Rift sawn white oak flooring grounds the space.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2022
It smelled sweetly of varnish and freshly sawn cedar.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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