What does "saw" mean?
A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal.
Saw
/sɑ/ intj, name, noun, verb, slang
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal.
- Grammar: saw is listed as intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adage, proverb, adage, amputate.
- Useful contrasts: adz, assemble, ax.
- Usage evidence: When I left the train station, I saw a man.
How to use "saw"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "saw" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "saw" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "saw" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "saw" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "saw" is acting as intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adage" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "saw", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal.
- 2 Something spoken; speech, discourse. obsolete
"And for thy trew sawys, and I may lyve many wynters, there was never no knyght better rewardid[…]. And for your true discourses, and I may live many winters, there was never no knight better rewarded[…]."
- 3 Acronym of squad automatic weapon or section automatic weapon, a kind of light machine gun. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 4 A Bahamian. slang
"Since Tea Cake and Janie had friended with the Bahaman workers in the ’Glades, they, the “Saws,” had been gradually drawn into the American crowd."
- 5 a power tool for cutting wood wordnet
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal.; Such a tool with an abrasive coating instead of teeth.
- 7 A saying or proverb. archaic
"old saw"
- 8 Initialism of surface acoustic wave. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 9 hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting wordnet
- 10 A musical saw.
- 11 Opinion, idea, belief. obsolete
"by thy saw"
- 12 Acronym of solar array wing abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
- 13 a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people wordnet
- 14 A sawtooth wave.
- 15 Proposal, suggestion; possibility. obsolete
"c. 1350-1400, unknown, The Erl of Toulous All they assentyd to the sawe; They thoght he spake reson and lawe."
- 16 The situation where two partners agree to trump a suit alternately, playing that suit to each other for the express purpose.
- 17 Dictate; command; decree. obsolete
"[Love] rules the creatures by his powerful saw."
Verb
- 1 To cut (something) with a saw. transitive
"They were stoned, they were sawen asunder, were tempted, were slaine with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskinnes, and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented."
- 2 simple past of see form-of, past
- 3 cut with a saw wordnet
- 4 To make a motion back and forth similar to cutting something with a saw. intransitive
"He said he was sometimes whistling a tune to himself — for, like me, he sawed a good deal on the fiddle; […]"
- 5 past participle of see colloquial, form-of, nonstandard, participle, past
"Mr. Harbaugh. All instances that I have saw."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To be cut with a saw. intransitive
"The timber saws smoothly."
- 7 To form or produce (something) by cutting with a saw. transitive
"to saw boards or planks (i.e. to saw logs or timber into boards or planks)"
Intj
- 1 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ (ṣallā llāhu ʕalayhi wa-sallama, “peace be upon him”) proscribed, sometimes
Proper Noun
- 1 Initialism of Stock Aitken Waterman, an English songwriting and record production trio. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 2 A surname.
Example
"When I left the train station, I saw a man."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "saw"?
Common synonyms include: adage, proverb, adage, amputate, ana, analects.
How do you use "saw" in a sentence?
When I left the train station, I saw a man.
How do you pronounce "saw"?
Pronounced /sɑ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
From Middle English sawe, from Old English sagu, saga (“story, tale, saying, statement, report, narrative, tradition”), from Proto-West Germanic *sagā, from Proto-Germanic *sagō, *sagǭ (“saying, story”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷe-, *skʷē-, from *sekʷ- (“to say”). Cognate with Dutch sage (“saga”), German Sage (“legend, saga, tale, fable”), Danish sagn (“legend”), Norwegian soga (“story”), Icelandic saga (“story, tale, history”). More at saga, say. Doublet of saga.
Etymology 3
From Arabic
Etymology 4
Abbreviation.
Etymology 5
Various origins: * English metonymic occupational surname for a sawyer, from saw. Compare Sawyer. * Borrowed from Hindi साव (sāv); this surname is predominantly found in Jharkhand state. * Borrowed from Burmese စော (cau:), a nickname meaning "honorable".