saw
pronunciation
How to pronounce saw in British English:
UK [sɔː]
How to pronounce saw in American English:
US [sɔː]
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- Noun:
- a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
- hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting
- a power tool for cutting wood
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- Verb:
- cut with a saw
Word Origin
- saw
- saw: Not counting the past tense of see, English has two words saw. The one meaning ‘toothed cutting tool’ [OE] comes from a prehistoric Germanic *sagō, a close relative of which produced German säge ‘saw’. This in turn was descended from an Indo-European base *sak-, *sek- ‘cut’, which also lies behind English section, segment, sickle, etc. The now seldom heard saw ‘saying, adage’ [OE] comes from a different prehistoric Germanic *sagō, which was derived from the verb *sagjan ‘say’ (ancestor of English say) and also produced Old Norse saga ‘narrative’ (source of English saga [18]).=> section, segment, sickle; saga, say
- saw (n.1)
- toothed cutting tool, Old English sagu, from Proto-Germanic *sago "a cutting tool" (cognates: Old English seax "knife," Old Norse sög, Norwegian sag, Danish sav, Swedish såg, Middle Dutch saghe, Dutch zaag, Old High German saga, German Säge "saw"), from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (cognates: Latin secare "to cut," Russian sech' "to cut;" see section (n.)).
- saw (n.2)
- "proverb, saying, maxim," Old English sagu "saying, discourse, speech, study, tradition, tale," from Proto-Germanic *saga-, *sagon- (cognates: Middle Low German, Middle Dutch sage, zage, German Sage "legend, fable, saga, myth, tradition," Old Norse saga "story, tale, saga"), from PIE root *sek(w)- "to say, utter" (see say (v.)).
- saw (v.)
- "cut with a saw," c. 1200, sauen, saghen, from saw (n.1). Strong conjugation began by c. 1400 on model of draw, etc. Related: Sawed; sawing. Sawed-off "short, cut short" is attested 1887 of persons, 1898 of shotguns.
- saw (v.)
- past tense of see; from Old English plural sawon.
Example
- 1. The father saw the blood and questioned his daughter .
- 2. Mr. see owned a saw and mr. soar owned a seesaw .
- 3. First a hand chisel to create an open hole , than a saw to widen the hole .
- 4. It is a powerful scene and one more relevant to me than when I first saw it all those years ago .
- 5. And her treacherous sister judah saw it .