Saw (root: see)

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Saw, imp. 

 imp. of See.  [1913 Webster]

Saw, n. [OE. sawe, AS. sagu; akin to secgan to say. See Say, v. t. and cf. Saga.].

•  Something said; speech; discourse.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
•  A saying; a proverb; a maxim.  [1913 Webster]

  "His champions are the prophets and apostles,
  His weapons holy saws of sacred writ."  [1913 Webster]
•  Dictate; command; decree.  [1913 Webster]

  "[Love] rules the creatures by his powerful saw."  [1913 Webster]

Saw, n. [OE. sawe, AS. sage; akin to D. zaag, G. säge, OHG. sega, saga, Dan. sav, Sw. såg, Icel. sög, L. secare to cut, securis ax, secula sickle. Cf. Scythe, Sickle, Section, Sedge.].

 An instrument for cutting or dividing substances, as wood, iron, etc., consisting of a thin blade, or plate, of steel, with a series of sharp teeth on the edge, which remove successive portions of the material by cutting and tearing.  [1913 Webster]
" Saw is frequently used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound."  [1913 Webster]

Band saw, Crosscut saw, etc. See under Band, Crosscut, etc. -- Circular saw, a disk of steel with saw teeth upon its periphery, and revolved on an arbor. -- Saw bench, a bench or table with a flat top for for sawing, especially with a circular saw which projects above the table. -- Saw file, a three-cornered file, such as is used for sharpening saw teeth. -- Saw frame, the frame or sash in a sawmill, in which the saw, or gang of saws, is held. -- Saw gate, a saw frame. -- Saw gin, the form of cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney, in which the cotton fibers are drawn, by the teeth of a set of revolving circular saws, through a wire grating which is too fine for the seeds to pass. -- Saw grass (Bot.), any one of certain cyperaceous plants having the edges of the leaves set with minute sharp teeth, especially the Cladium Mariscus of Europe, and the Cladium effusum of the Southern United States. Cf. Razor grass, under Razor. -- Saw log, a log of suitable size for sawing into lumber. -- Saw mandrel, a mandrel on which a circular saw is fastened for running. -- Saw pit, a pit over which timbor is sawed by two men, one standing below the timber and the other above. Mortimer. -- Saw sharpener (Zoöl.), the great titmouse; -- so named from its harsh call note. [Prov. Eng.] -- Saw whetter (Zoöl.), the marsh titmouse (Parus palustris); -- so named from its call note. [Prov. Eng.]<-- no relation to saw-whet, an owl also named for its note --> -- Scroll saw, a ribbon of steel with saw teeth upon one edge, stretched in a frame and adapted for sawing curved outlines; also, a machine in which such a saw is worked by foot or power.

Saw, v. t. 

•  To cut with a saw; to separate with a saw; as, to saw timber or marble.  [1913 Webster]
•  To form by cutting with a saw; as, to saw boards or planks, that is, to saw logs or timber into boards or planks; to saw shingles; to saw out a panel.  [1913 Webster]
•  Also used figuratively; as, to saw the air.  [1913 Webster]

Saw, v. i. 

•  To use a saw; to practice sawing; as, a man saws well.  [1913 Webster]
•  To cut, as a saw; as, the saw or mill saws fast.  [1913 Webster]
•  To be cut with a saw; as, the timber saws smoothly.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Saw, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a hand tool having a toothed blade used to cut esp. wood with a to-and-fro movement. b any of several mechanical power-driven devices with a toothed rotating disk or moving band, for cutting.
2 Zool. etc. a serrated organ or part.
--v. (past part. sawn or sawed)
1 tr. a cut (wood etc.) with a saw. b make (boards etc.) with a saw.
2 intr. use a saw.
3 a intr. move to and fro with a motion as of a saw or person sawing (sawing away on his violin). b tr. divide (the air etc.) with gesticulations.

Idiom

saw-doctor a machine for making the teeth of a saw. saw-edged with a jagged edge like a saw. saw-frame a frame in which a saw-blade is held taut. saw-gate = saw-frame. saw-gin = cotton-gin. saw-horse a rack supporting wood for sawing. sawn-off (US sawed-off)
1 (of a gun) having part of the barrel sawn off to make it easier to handle and give a wider field of fire.
2 colloq. (of a person) short. saw-pit a pit in which the lower of two men working a pit-saw stands. saw-set a tool for wrenching saw-teeth in alternate directions to allow the saw to work freely. saw-wort a composite plant, Serratula tinctoria, yielding a yellow dye from its serrated leaves.

Derivative

sawlike adj.

Saw, past of SEE(1).

Saw, n. a proverb; a maxim (that's just an old saw).

Etymology

OE sagu f. Gmc, rel. to SAY: cf. SAGA

DEVIL DICTIONARY

Saw

n. A trite popular saying, or proverb. (Figurative and colloquial.) So called because it makes its way into a wooden head. Following are examples of old saws fitted with new teeth.

A penny saved is a penny to squander.

A man is known by the company that he organizes.

A bad workman quarrels with the man who calls him that.

A bird in the hand is worth what it will bring.

Better late than before anybody has invited you.

Example is better than following it.

Half a loaf is better than a whole one if there is much else.

Think twice before you speak to a friend in need.

What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to
do it.

Least said is soonest disavowed.

He laughs best who laughs least.

Speak of the Devil and he will hear about it.

Of two evils choose to be the least.

Strike while your employer has a big contract.

Where there's a will there's a won't.

THESAURUS

Saw

Vandyke edge, adage, amputate, ana, analects, aphorism, apothegm, ax, axiom, backsaw, band saw, belt saw, bisect, bow, bow saw, bucksaw, butcher, buzz saw, byword, carve, catchword, chain saw, chop, circular saw, cleave, cockscomb, collected sayings, compass saw, coping saw, cordwood saw, crenation, crenelation, crenulation, crest, crosscut saw, current saying, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, deckle edge, denticulation, dentil, dentil band, diamond saw, dichotomize, dictate, dictum, dissever, distich, dogtooth, double-cut saw, dovetail saw, epigram, excise, expression, fiddle, fissure, frame saw, fretsaw, gash, gnome, golden saying, hack, hacksaw, halve, handsaw, helicoidal saw, hew, incise, jigsaw, keyhole saw, lance, maxim, meat saw, mill saw, moral, mot, motto, notching, oracle, panel saw, pare, phrase, pit saw, pithy saying, play violin, portable saw, power saw, precept, prescript, proverb, proverbial saying, proverbs, prune, pruning saw, rend, rickrack, ripsaw, rive, rock saw, saw knife, saw machine, saw teeth, saying, scallop, scissor, scrape, scribe saw, scroll saw, sentence, sententious expression, serration, sever, slash, slice, slit, sloka, snip, split, splitsaw, stock saying, sunder, sutra, table saw, teaching, tear, text, two-handed saw, verse, vertical saw, whipsaw, whittle, wire saw, wisdom, wisdom literature, wise saying, witticism, wood saw, word, words of wisdom

ROGET THESAURUS

Saw

Disjunction

VB be disjoined, come off, fall off, come to pieces, fall to pieces, peel off, get loose, disjoin, disconnect, disengage, disunite, dissociate, dispair, divorce, part, dispart, detach, separate, cut off, rescind, segregate, set apart, keep apart, insulate, isolate, throw out of gear, cut adrift, loose, unloose, undo, unbind, unchain, unlock, unpack, unravel, disentangle, set free, sunder, divide, subdivide, sever, dissever, abscind, circumcise, cut, incide, incise, saw, snip, nib, nip, cleave, rive, rend, slit, split, splinter, chip, crack, snap, break, tear, burst, rend, rend asunder, rend in twain, wrench, rupture, shatter, shiver, cranch, crunch, craunch, chop, cut up, rip up, hack, hew, slash, whittle, haggle, hackle, discind, lacerate, scamble, mangle, gash, hash, slice, cut up, carve, dissect, anatomize, dislimb, take to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, tear to pieces, tear to tatters, tear piecemeal, tear limb from limb, divellicate, skin, disintegrate, dismember, disbranch, disband, disperse, dislocate, disjoint, break up, mince, comminute, apportion, part, part company, separate, leave.

Notch

N notch, dent, nick, cut, indent, indentation, dimple, embrasure, battlement, machicolation, saw, tooth, crenelle, scallop, scollop, vandyke, depression, jag, notched, crenate, crenated, dentate, dentated, denticulate, denticulated, toothed, palmated, serrated.

Maxim

N maxim, aphorism, apothegm, apophthegm, dictum, saying, adage, saw, proverb, sentence, mot, motto, word, byword, moral, phylactery, protasis, axiom, theorem, scholium, truism, postulate, first principles, a priori fact, assumption (supposition), reflection, conclusion, golden rule, principle, principia, profession of faith, settled principle, accepted principle, formula, accepted fact, received truth, wise maxim, sage maxim, received maxim, admitted maxim, recognized maxim, true saying, common saying, hackneyed saying, trite saying, commonplace saying, aphoristic, proverbial, phylacteric, axiomatic, gnomic, as the saying goes, as the saying is, as they say.