saw

1 of 4

past tense of see

saw

2 of 4

noun (1)

ˈsȯ 

: 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

sawlike

ˈsȯ-ˌlīk 

adjective

saw

3 of 4

verb

sawed ˈsȯd  ; sawed or sawn ˈsȯn  ; sawing ˈsȯ(-)iŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to cut with a saw

2

: to produce or form by cutting with a saw

3

: to slash as though with a saw

intransitive verb

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

sawer

ˈsȯ(-ə)r 

noun

saw

4 of 4

noun

: maxim, proverb

Synonyms of saw

Noun

• saying
• proverb
• word

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

Noun

Pruners, loppers, and saws should be sanitized with a 70 percent alcohol solution before making the first cut. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 10 Sep. 2026

Recovery is well underway, with the sounds of hammers, saws and nail guns ringing through the air. — Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026

Verb

Vigilantes have covered the cameras in trash bags, splattered them with paint, and even sawed them down. — The Week Us, TheWeek, 8 Sep. 2026

Flock cameras have been vandalized in at least 36 states, including incidents in which individuals sawed down the devices and shot at them with guns, NPR reported last month. — Max Zahn, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English sagh, sawe, going back to Old English sagu (strong feminine noun), going back to Germanic *sagō (whence also Middle Dutch sage "saw," Old High German saga, Old Icelandic sǫg) beside *segō (whence Middle Dutch sege "saw," Old High German sega), noun derivatives from a dialectal Indo-European verbal base *sek- "cut," whence also Middle Irish tescaid "(s/he) cuts, severs" (regularized from a presumed verb doˑesc, perhaps from *to-eks-sk-), Latin secō, secāre "to cut, sever, make an incision," Old Church Slavic sěkǫ, sěšti "to cut down, fell, hew," Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian sijèčēm, sjȅći "to cut, chop, hew"

Note: The base *sek- is peculiar to northwest (or European) Indo-European, being attested in Celtic, Italic, Germanic, and Slavic; *sek- is perhaps ultimately the same base as *skeh₂-, *skh₂- "cut open, flay"; see etymology and note at science.

Verb

Middle English sawen, derivative of sawe saw entry 2

Noun

Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu discourse; akin to Old High German & Old Norse saga tale, Old English secgan to say — more at say entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing saw

• band saw
• bow saw
• buzz saw
• chain saw
• circular saw
• coping saw
• crosscut saw
• keyhole saw
• musical saw
• pit saw
• run/walk into a buzz saw
• saber saw
• saw at
• saw down
• saw grass
• saw palmetto
• saw set
• saw-toothed
• saw up
• saw-whet owl
• scroll saw
• (the) last someone saw

Rhymes for saw

• aah
• ah
• ahh
• aw
• awe
• bah
• blah
• bra
• caw
• claw
• craw
• daw

Kids Definition

saw

1 of 4

past of see

saw

2 of 4 noun

ˈsȯ 

: a hand or power tool or a machine used to cut hard material and equipped usually with a tooth-edged blade

saw

3 of 4 verb

sawed ˈsȯd  ; sawed or sawn ˈsȯn  ; sawing ˈsȯ(-)iŋ 

: to cut or shape with a saw

saw

4 of 4 noun

: a common saying : proverb

Medical Definition

saw

1 of 2

past of see

saw

2 of 2 noun

ˈsȯ 

: a hand or power tool used to cut hard material (as bone) and equipped usually with a toothed blade or disk