plural saxes
informal
: saxophone
plays sax in a local jazz ensemble
often used before another noun
a sax player
The transmission, as one editor put it, "is as smooth as a Paul Desmond sax solo."John Phillips

Examples of sax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Thompson’s tenor sax stepped up to the forefront, honking and grooving through this first-tier ska classic, which was originally written and recorded by legendary Jamaican artist Prince Buster in the ’60s and then propelled to a whole new generation of listeners by the Madness cover from 1979. Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 16 May 2025 The music goes for horror-movie ambience, building the dystopian mood with eerie samples of human screams, sobs, phone alarms, howling sax, even an old-school dial-up modem. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 10 May 2025 To hear Ellington's band stomping through the opening of Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue or the sax soli of Cotton Tail is to experience a sublime understanding of the power of a group. Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Apr. 2025 About a third of this month’s bookings are bona fide jazz, including alto sax great Gary Bartz, who plays Yoshi’s April 23-24. Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sax

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1923, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sax was circa 1923

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Cite this Entry

“Sax.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sax. Accessed 24 May. 2025.

Kids Definition

sax

noun
informal

More from Merriam-Webster on sax

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