SAW (sawn)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: sawn   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does saw mean? 

• SAW (noun)
  The noun SAW has 3 senses:

1. a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people

2. hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting

3. a power tool for cutting wood

  Familiarity information: SAW used as a noun is uncommon.

• SAW (verb)
  The verb SAW has 1 sense:

1. cut with a saw

  Familiarity information: SAW used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SAW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

adage; byword; proverb; saw

Hypernyms ("saw" is a kind of...):

expression; locution; saying (a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("saw" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

Meronyms (parts of "saw"):

sawtooth (a serration on a saw blade)

tooth (something resembling the tooth of an animal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "saw"):

bucksaw (a saw that is set in a frame in the shape of an H; used with both hands to cut wood that is held in a sawbuck)

crown saw (a saw having teeth around the edge of a hollow cylinder)

folding saw (a saw with a toothed blade that folds into a handle (the way a pocketknife folds))

hack saw; hacksaw; metal saw (saw used with one hand for cutting metal)

carpenter's saw; hand saw; handsaw (a saw used with one hand for cutting wood)

lumberman's saw; two-handed saw; two-man saw; whipsaw (a saw with handles at both ends; intended for use by two people)

Derivation:

saw (cut with a saw)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A power tool for cutting wood

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

power saw; saw; sawing machine

Hypernyms ("saw" is a kind of...):

power tool (a tool driven by a motor)

Meronyms (parts of "saw"):

tooth (something resembling the tooth of an animal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "saw"):

band saw; bandsaw (an endless saw consisting of a toothed metal band that is driven around two wheels)

chain saw; chainsaw (portable power saw; teeth linked to form an endless chain)

buzz saw; circular saw (a power saw that has a steel disk with cutting teeth on the periphery; rotates on a spindle)

gangsaw (a power saw that has several parallel blades making simultaneous cuts)

fretsaw; jigsaw; scroll saw (fine-toothed power saw with a narrow blade; used to cut curved outlines)

jigsaw; reciprocating saw; saber saw (a portable power saw with a reciprocating blade; can be used with a variety of blades depending on the application and kind of cut; generally have a plate that rides on the surface that is being cut)

sawmill (a large sawing machine)

Derivation:

saw (cut with a saw)

• SAW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they saw    ... he / she / it saws   
Past simple: sawed   
Past participle: sawed    / sawn   
-ing form: sawing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cut with a saw

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

saw wood for the fireplace

Hypernyms (to "saw" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "saw"):

whipsaw (saw with a whipsaw)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

saw (a power tool for cutting wood)

saw (hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting)

sawyer (one who is employed to saw wood)

 Context examples 

He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

So the man went home, and saw his wife standing at the door of a nice trim little cottage.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

She saw him not far off.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I really saw in him a tyrant, a murderer.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

They watched them continuously, and this morning they saw me arrive.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The team saw a shift in the genes tied to this nutrient cycling as temperatures differed across sites.

(From tropical to boreal ecosystems, temperature drives functioning, National Science Foundation)

I distinctly saw his bare throat.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He sat looking at the horse's ears, as if he saw something new there; and sat so, for a considerable time.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Dorothy saw at once that this was true, so she only nodded and went on eating her bread.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Yes, I saw they refused to be interviewed.

(Health threats caused by mobile phone radiation, EUROPARL TV)