saw

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To cut something using a saw.

   He sawed the plank in half for the shelf.

2. 2
   verb

   To move something back and forth as if cutting with a saw.

   She sawed at the tough steak with her knife.

3. 3
   noun

   An old, well-known saying or proverb.

   He kept repeating the old saw that honesty is the best policy.

Common collocations

• buzz saw Noun + noun
• dovetail saw Noun + noun
• saber saw Noun + noun
• scroll saw Noun + noun
• keyhole saw Noun + noun

The noun from Middle English sawe, sawgh, from Old English saga, sagu (“saw”), from Proto-West Germanic *sagu, from Proto-Germanic *sagô, *sagō (“saw”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian seage (“saw”), Dutch zaag (“saw”), German Säge (“saw”), Danish sav (“saw”), Swedish såg (“saw”), Icelandic sög (“saw”), and through Indo-European, with Latin secō (“cut”) and Italian sega (“saw”). The verb from Middle English sawen, from the noun above.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images