I.
Etymology: Middle English saugh (past singular), sawen (past plural), from Old English seah (past singular), sāwon (past plural)
past or nonstandard past part of see
II. ˈsȯ noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu, sage; akin to Old High German sega, saga saw, Old Norse sög saw, Latin secare to cut, securis ax, secula sickle, Old Slavic sěšti to cut, sekyra ax, Albanian shatë mattock; basic meaning: to cut
1.
a.
(1) : a manually operated or power-driven tool used to cut hard material (as wood, metal, or bone) and usually consisting of a thin flat blade or plate of tempered steel with a continuous series of teeth on the edge and mounted in a handle or frame
(2) : a saw blade
b. : any of various tools or devices without teeth that cut by wearing out a kerf: as
(1) : helicoidal saw
(2) : a soft steel disk revolved at high speed to cut metal (as armor plate)
c. : a tool or machine having a saw for cutting
2.
a. : the ovipositor of a sawfly
b. : the snout of a sawfish
III. verb
( sawed ; sawed ˈsȯd ; or sawn ˈsȯn ; sawing ; saws )
Etymology: Middle English sawen, from sawe saw
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cut with a saw
saw timber
saw marble
saw the log in two
b. : to cut into pieces as if with a saw
about 20 carbines and tommy guns practically sawed him in half — Bill Alcine
c. : to cut kerfs across (the back of an unbound hand-sewn book) to receive the cords that secure the covers in order to prevent the cords from raising ridges on the covered backbone — usually used with in
2. : to produce or form by cutting with or as if with a saw
solid wheels sawed from the trunks of cottonwood trees — American Guide Series: Texas
3.
a. : to cut through as though using a saw
a fir tree sawed the air with its creaking branches — Elizabeth Taylor
do not saw the air too much with your hand — Shakespeare
b. : to give the motion of a saw to
sawing the towel across his back — A.P.Gaskell
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to use a saw
he saws well
b. : to cut with or as if with a saw
a machine that can saw in many patterns
the river that sawed through the rising mountain barrier — American Guide Series: Washington
2. : to admit of being cut with a saw
the timber saws smoothly
3.
a. : to make motions as though using a saw
sawed at the reins
b. : to play on a stringed instrument with a bow
the cellist sawed away
•
- saw alive
- saw gourds
- saw wood
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu speech, talk, discourse; akin to Old High German & Old Norse saga tale, saga, account, Old English secgan to say — more at say
: a traditional saying : maxim , proverb
the old saw that ignorance is bliss — M.W.Childs