sawtooth

American

[saw-tooth] / ˈsɔˌtuθ /

noun

plural

sawteeth

one of the cutting teeth of a saw.
any of the small parallel roof structures forming a sawtooth roof.

adjective

having a zigzag profile, similar to that of the cutting edge of a saw; sawtoothed; serrate.

a sawtooth mountain range.

sawtooth British

/ ˈsɔːˌtuːθ /

adjective

(of a waveform) having an amplitude that varies linearly with time between two values, the interval in one direction often being much greater than the other
having or generating such a waveform

"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

Etymology

Origin of sawtooth

First recorded in 1595–1605; saw ¹ + tooth

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.

It even uses thinner shoelaces, using a grippy sawtooth pattern that helps them stay tied.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

One can see that implied volatility spikes and then plunges, creating a sawtooth pattern.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026

Before long, those electronic textures seeped into her music, with bass drops and drum loops adding raw energy to her sawtooth guitar riffs.

From BBC • Aug. 26, 2024

Serrated polyps are so-called because of their sawtooth appearance under a microscope.

From Science Daily • Dec. 13, 2023

But they were attacked by a monster with milk-blue eyes and sawtooth skin and teeth like spears jutting from its lower jaw.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023