saw

The definition of a saw is a tool used to cut wood or other items.

(noun)

An example of a saw is what you use to chop up firewood.

To saw is to do the action of cutting something, especially using a specific tool that is meant for cutting.

(verb)

An example of saw is when you go outside and cut wood into smaller pieces.

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See saw in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

    1. a cutting tool, of various shapes and sizes and worked by hand or machinery, consisting essentially of a thin blade or disk of metal, usually steel, the edge of which is a series of sharp teeth
    2. any of various tools or devices somewhat like this but with a sharp edge instead of teeth
  1. a machine for operating a saw or saws

Origin: ME sawe < OE sagu, akin to Ger säge, Du zaag < IE base *sek-, to cut, > L secare, to cut, OE seax, knife

transitive verb sawed, sawed or Chiefly Brit.sawn, sawing

  1. to cut or divide with a saw
  2. to shape or form with a saw
  3. to make sawlike cutting motions through (the air, etc.)
  4. to operate or produce with a to-and-fro motion suggestive of that used in working a saw: to saw a knife through meat, to saw a tune on a fiddle

intransitive verb

  1. to cut with or as with a saw or as a saw does
  2. to be cut with a saw: wood that saws easily
  3. to make sawlike cutting motions

Related Forms:

noun

an old saying, often repeated; maxim; proverb

Origin: ME sawe < OE sagu: see say

transitive verb, intransitive verb

see

See saw in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
Any of various tools, either hand-operated or power-driven, having a thin metal blade or disk with a sharp, usually toothed edge, used for cutting wood, metal, or other hard materials.
verb sawed sawed, sawed sawed or sawn (sôn), saw·ing, saws
verb, transitive
  1. To cut or divide with a saw.
  2. To produce or shape with a saw: sawed a hole in the board.
  3. To make back-and-forth motions through or on: a speaker who saws the air with his arms.
verb, intransitive
  1. To use a saw: sawing along the chalk line.
  2. To undergo cutting with a saw: Pine wood saws easily.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English sawe

Origin: , from Old English sagu; see sek- in Indo-European roots

.

Related Forms:

  • sawˈer noun

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saw1

top to bottom: compass, backsaw, and crosscut saws

noun
A familiar saying, especially one that has become trite through repetition. See Synonyms at saying.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English sawe

Origin: , from Old English sagu, speech; see sekw-3 in Indo-European roots

.

verb
Past tense of see1.

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