sax
noun
sax
1 American
[saks]
/ sæks /
noun
Informal.
sax
2
American
[saks]
/ sæks /
noun
Sax.
3
American
abbreviation
-
Saxon.
-
Saxony.
sax
1
British
/ sæks /
noun
sax
2
British
/ sæks /
noun
Etymology
Origin of sax1
By shortening
Origin of sax2
before 900; Middle English sexe, Old English seax, sæx; cognate with Old Norse sax ( Swedish, Danish sax scissors). See saw 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:
On that last track, recorded a dozen years ago, Mr. Lloyd, playing alto sax, seems like a fountain, distilling fragments of songs and scales into a narrative that spills forth in graceful gushes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Ellington had introduced the work as a two-sided 78 in 1937, played it sporadically throughout the 1940s, and revived it in 1951, not long after Gonsalves joined the sax section.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
"Freedom Suite," led by Rollins' confident sax and also notable for Max Roach's drumming, proved controversial enough that a reissue chose another title for the album.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
Dr. Todd Forman is a practicing physician who went to Harvard, taught at USC, and played sax with Sublime.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
I looked at Ben, confused, and then Ben said, “He was a sax player.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
The verb in the Sax. is hlystan, but in Su.-G. lyda, and Isl. hlyda, which approaches nearer to the form in the poem.
From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown
Though the root-meaning seems rather that of clamminess or adhesiveness, as found in Sansc. limpas, Gr. λιπος, Lat. limus, Old Sax. lêmo, Mod.
From The River-Names of Europe by Robert Ferguson
Borwe, Sax., is pledge or security, and to borrow is to secure.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 by William Carew Hazlitt
The verb only exists in the Sax. in the pt. t. þærnode, Chron.
From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown
Battel, from Sax. or , to count, or reckon, having the prefix be.
From Notes and Queries, Number 232, April 8, 1854 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
