: a hand or power tool or a machine used to cut hard material (such as wood, metal, or bone) and equipped usually with a toothed blade or disk
1
: to cut with a saw
2
: to produce or form by cutting with a saw
3
: to slash as though with a saw
1
a
: to use a saw
b
: to cut with or as if with a saw
2
: to undergo cutting with a saw
3
: to make motions as though using a saw
sawed at the reins
Synonyms
Examples of saw in a Sentence
Verb
He sawed the boards in half.
This blade is too dull for sawing.
Noun
it's an old saw that a red sunset presages fair skies the next day
Recent Examples on the Web
Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2024
Skilled personnel at the event will remove the firearms from vehicles and transfer them to a saw station, then the firearms will be disassembled according to guidelines from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
—Jake Allen, The Indianapolis Star, 9 May 2024
Our saw can very easily and inadvertently wound other canes on the bush.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2024
My go-to saws for that were a pair of Stihl MS180s.
—Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 1 May 2024
Her first job at In-N-Out saw Snyder doing the minor jobs expected of new staff: slicing onions, preparing tomatoes, and separating lettuce leaves.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
The same man was also seen using a saw to try to cut the store’s front door lock, according to deputies.
—Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 1 Apr. 2024
The shop owner and a customer could be seen walking over to the entrance after the saw blade made impact.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 31 Mar. 2024
For instance, the shift from manufacturing to tech saw mechanical workers excel in computer programming and IT support roles.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 24 Mar. 2024
Jenna Russell Tristan Spinski, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Pictures published by Russian emergency services showed emergency medical workers sawing through the remains of the concert hall, where the seats had been charred down to their metal insides.
—Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024
The workers sawed through flexible yellow gas hose, pulled it from the walls and hauled it out to the sidewalk.
—Jeff Brady, NPR, 4 Mar. 2024
The sawing crews operating around Lukeville have been especially brazen.
—Nick Miroff, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2023
Doctors struggled to save his life, and to do so, sawed off his left leg.
—Toby Muse, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2024
The writer Lauren Groff, who moved to the state 18 years ago, recalled another Florida meme, in which someone saws the dangling state off the map.
—Patricia Mazzei Jason Andrew, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024
Just don’t blame me when your kids start trying to saw the furniture in half at home.
—Laura Parker, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Then, in 2021, they were suddenly removed overnight by a landscape contractor who — to the horror of preservationists — sawed them off at the knees to conduct a water main repair, leaving behind only their little hooves.
—Curbed, 12 Jan. 2024
Noun
California Officers fatally shoot man armed with saw in Fontana Home Depot, police say
Feb. 27, 2024
Dorsey said his officers were gang investigators who were in Yucaipa to assist the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which provides law enforcement service for the city.
—Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2024
Skilled personnel at the event will remove the firearms from vehicles and transfer them to a saw station, then the firearms will be disassembled according to guidelines from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
—Jake Allen, The Indianapolis Star, 9 May 2024
Our saw can very easily and inadvertently wound other canes on the bush.
—Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2024
My go-to saws for that were a pair of Stihl MS180s.
—Will Brantley, Field & Stream, 1 May 2024
Her first job at In-N-Out saw Snyder doing the minor jobs expected of new staff: slicing onions, preparing tomatoes, and separating lettuce leaves.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024
The same man was also seen using a saw to try to cut the store’s front door lock, according to deputies.
—Daniella Segura, Sacramento Bee, 1 Apr. 2024
The shop owner and a customer could be seen walking over to the entrance after the saw blade made impact.
—Mirna Alsharif, NBC News, 31 Mar. 2024
For instance, the shift from manufacturing to tech saw mechanical workers excel in computer programming and IT support roles.
—Ebony Flake, Essence, 24 Mar. 2024
Verb
Andrew Postal, a sophomore from Andover, Mass., brought fellow rugby players to the frozen pond, while Caitlin Kincaid, a senior from Colorado Springs, Colo., enlisted 10 members of the Colby Woodsmen Team, skilled in sawing wood and swinging axes.
—Jenna Russell Tristan Spinski, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024
Pictures published by Russian emergency services showed emergency medical workers sawing through the remains of the concert hall, where the seats had been charred down to their metal insides.
—Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024
The workers sawed through flexible yellow gas hose, pulled it from the walls and hauled it out to the sidewalk.
—Jeff Brady, NPR, 4 Mar. 2024
The sawing crews operating around Lukeville have been especially brazen.
—Nick Miroff, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2023
Doctors struggled to save his life, and to do so, sawed off his left leg.
—Toby Muse, Rolling Stone, 3 Mar. 2024
The writer Lauren Groff, who moved to the state 18 years ago, recalled another Florida meme, in which someone saws the dangling state off the map.
—Patricia Mazzei Jason Andrew, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2024
Just don’t blame me when your kids start trying to saw the furniture in half at home.
—Laura Parker, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Then, in 2021, they were suddenly removed overnight by a landscape contractor who — to the horror of preservationists — sawed them off at the knees to conduct a water main repair, leaving behind only their little hooves.
—Curbed, 12 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'saw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near saw
Cite this Entry
“Saw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/saw. Accessed 17 May. 2024.
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