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sawmill

American  
[saw-mil] / ˈsɔˌmɪl /

noun

  • sawmills
    plural
  1. a place or building in which timber is sawed into planks, boards, etc., by machinery.


sawmill British  
/ ˈsɔːˌmɪl /

noun

  1. an industrial establishment where timber is sawn into planks, etc

  2. a large sawing machine

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of sawmill

First recorded in 1545–55; saw 1 + mill 1

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:

The brainchild of sawmill business partners Franz Josef Bucher and Josef Durrer, the Grand Hotel opened in 1873.

From Barron's Jun. 16, 2026

Lumber prices are up because of import taxes and sawmill closures.

From The Wall Street Journal May 26, 2026

By the late 1800s, the company had begun to build homes for its workers near its sawmill.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 2, 2026

James Jones and Sons, which is investing £70m in a new sawmill near Durham, is one of a number of companies counting on it.

From BBC Sep. 25, 2025

When night came you slept in a barn, if there were no dogs, a cane field, or an empty sawmill.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

Dozens of sawmills have closed across the U.S. and Canada in recent years, with a big wave of closures coming in the past year due to the prolonged housing downturn and higher import taxes.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 5, 2026

The combined real estate investment trust has a half dozen sawmills and a big plywood facility, and intends to keep the dividend in line with Rayonier’s recent payout, suggesting a yield of 5% or so.

From Barron's Feb. 27, 2026

Nor did he have the money to carry out a replanting operation, since growing for timber wouldn’t pay for itself; most of the nearby sawmills had shut down long ago anyway.

From New York Times Apr. 4, 2024

They’re often hired in industries with severe labor shortages, doing some of the country’s dirtiest and most dangerous jobs like working in poultry plants, meat-processing centers and sawmills.

From Seattle Times Jan. 29, 2024

‘That’s right. Four big cotton mills—those are the main ones. A hosiery factory. Some gins and sawmills.’

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

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