saw

nounverbnounverbtop 1 000 in film dialogue

United Kingdom//sɔː//
Australia//soː//
//sɑ//

A tool used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal. Such a tool with a toothed blade.

noun

1
A tool used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal. Such a tool with a toothed blade.
Meronyms: sawtooth < sawblade
2
A tool used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal. Such a tool with an abrasive coating instead of teeth.
3
A musical saw.
4
A sawtooth wave.
5
The situation where two partners agree to trump a suit alternately, playing that suit to each other for the express purpose.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *sok-éh₂ Proto-Germanic *sagō Proto-West Germanic *sagu Old English saga Middle English sawe English saw The noun from Middle English sawe, sawgh, from Old English saga, sagu (“saw”), from Proto-West Germanic *sagu, from Proto-Germanic *sagô, *sagō (“saw”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian seage (“saw”), Dutch zaag (“saw”), German Säge (“saw”), Danish sav (“saw”), Faroese, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk sag (“saw”), Swedish såg (“saw”), Icelandic sög (“saw”), and through Indo-European, with Latin secō (“cut”) and Italian sega (“saw”). The verb from Middle English sawen, from the noun above.

verb

1
To cut (something) with a saw.
They were stoned, they were sawen asunder, were tempted, were slaine with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskinnes, and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.
2
To make a motion back and forth similar to cutting something with a saw.
He said he was sometimes whistling a tune to himself — for, like me, he sawed a good deal on the fiddle; […]
3
To be cut with a saw.
The timber saws smoothly.
4
To form or produce (something) by cutting with a saw.
to saw boards or planks (i.e. to saw logs or timber into boards or planks)
to saw shingles
to saw out a panel
Locally sawn lumber—whether from small mills, local yards, or urban logs—often shows much more variation.

noun

1
obsoleteSomething spoken; speech, discourse.
And for thy trew sawys, and I may lyve many wynters, there was never no knyght better rewardid[…]. And for your true discourses, and I may live many winters, there was never no knight better rewarded[…].
2
archaicA saying or proverb.
old saw
And then the justice, / In fair round belly with good capon lined, / With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, / Full of wise saws and modern instances.
At his crowning[…] the priest in his honour preached on the saw, 'Vox populi, vox Dei.'
3
obsoleteOpinion, idea, belief.
by thy saw
commune saw
on no saw
4
obsoleteProposal, suggestion; possibility.
c. 1350-1400, unknown, The Erl of Toulous All they assentyd to the sawe; They thoght he spake reson and lawe.
5
obsoleteDictate; command; decree.
[Love] rules the creatures by his powerful saw.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- Proto-Germanic *sagǭ Proto-West Germanic *sagā Old English saga Middle English sawe English saw From Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu, saga (“story, tale, saying, statement, report, narrative, tradition”), from Proto-West Germanic *sagā, from Proto-Germanic *sagō, *sagǭ (“saying, story”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷe-, *skʷē-, from *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognate with Dutch sage (“saga”), German Sage (“legend, saga, tale, fable”), Danish sagn (“legend”), Norwegian soga (“story”), Icelandic saga (“story, tale, history”). More at saga, say. Doublet of saga.

verb

1
Also a form of seesimple past of see
2
Also a form of seepast participle of see
Mr. Harbaugh. All instances that I have saw.
“I think so. He might have saw him already. Shit dude, I don't know. You run the place.”
“I might have saw something,” I told him. “At least I think I might have saw something. Only I couldn't say what.”

Forms

plural: saws
past tense: sawed
past participle: sawed, sawn
present participle: sawing
third person singular: saws

saviour · UK and Canada spelling of savior.Saviour · UK standard spelling of Savior.savvy · Shrewd, well-informed and perceptive.

saw · A tool used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal. Such a tool with a toothed blade.

Saw · A surname.SAW · صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ (ṣallā llāhu ʕalayhi…sawyer · One who saws timber, especially in a sawpit.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.