sawfish

[saw-fish]

noun, plural (especially collectively) saw·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) saw·fish·es.

a large, elongated ray of the genus Pristis, living along tropical coasts and lowland rivers, with a bladelike snout bearing strong teeth on each side.

Origin of sawfish

First recorded in 1655–65; saw¹ + fish

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sawfish

Contemporary Examples of sawfish

Turtles, fish, ospreys and rare freshwater sharks and sawfish thrive there.
China’s Nicaragua Canal Could Spark a New Central America Revolution
Nina Lakhani
November 30, 2014

Historical Examples of sawfish

He realized that the sawfish had freed him from his dreadful jailer.
The Haunters of the Silences
Charles G. D. Roberts
The Sawfish is a ray in which the snout is elongated and edged with strong teeth.
Fast Nine
Alan Douglas
The fish caught with this apparatus are the swordfish57 and the sawfish.
The Manbos of Mindano
John M. Garvan
And it was to jab harpoons and spears into porpoises and manatee and sawfish, and be dragged about in their boat.
Tales of Fishes
Zane Grey
Then the sawfish rolled over on its side, turning one edge of the saw toward the surface.
The Haunters of the Silences
Charles G. D. Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for sawfish

sawfish

noun plural -fish or -fishes

any sharklike ray of the family Pristidae of subtropical coastal waters and estuaries, having a serrated bladelike mouth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sawfish

also saw-fish, 1660s; see saw (n.1.) + fish (n.).