sawn.1
/sɔː/, U.S. /sɔ/, /sɑ/ 1. figurative and in extended use.1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. L4v Euen so his sighes, his sorrowes make a saw, To push griefe on, and back the same grief draw. View more context for this quotation1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. viii. 138 Faction, hatred, livor, emulation, which..are, serræ animæ, the sawes of the soule.1871 C. Kingsley At Last I. iv. 145 You..see aloft the saw of the mountain ridges against the black-blue sky.† b. In obsolete phrases. to draw the saw (of contention or controversy): to keep up a fruitless dispute. to be under the saw of contention: (of a question) to be the subject of profitless dispute. to hand the saw: to take turns, change parts, with another in some work or function. to hold (a person) at the long saw: to keep in suspense.
a. A cutting tool consisting of a plate (or, in some forms, a band or a tube) of metal (usually steel), one edge of which is formed into a continuous series of teeth. (Some saws for cutting stone are without teeth.) In the original form of the tool, represented by the handsaw n., and in some varieties of more modern invention, e.g. the pit-saw (see pit-saw n.), the saw is moved backwards and forwards, each movement in one direction deepening the groove or ‘kerf’ made in the wood or other material to be cut. In other varieties, as the circular saw and the bandsaw, a continuous movement in one direction is substituted for the reciprocating movement.Ordinarily saw means the complete instrument including the handle, frame, or the like, necessary to fit it for use; but sometimes the word is applied to the ‘saw-plate’ or ‘saw-blade’ alone.Also with defining words, indicating special varieties of form, structure, mode of operation, or purpose, as in bandsaw, circular saw, compass saw, drag saw, endless saw, frame saw, fret saw, gate saw, hand saw, ice saw, joint saw, keyhole saw, lock saw, meat saw, mill saw, panel saw, pit saw, rabbet saw, rip saw, sash saw, tenon saw, web saw. These terms, so far as they have been thought to require notice in this Dictionary, are treated either under their first element or as main words. A considerable number of kinds of saws used for surgical purposes are distinguished by the names of their inventors, as Butcher's, Ferguson's, Gowan's, Hey's, Liston's saw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun]
sawc1000
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 106/22 Serrula, saga, uel snide.
a1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) 9 263/1 He sceal..habban..æcse, adsan, sage.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 27376 Away to sagh þam ilk crote, wit þe sagh o penance treu þat þe frut spring efter neu.
c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 525 File sawe and spindelle.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 383 Þis Perdix..took a plate of iren, and fyled it, and made it i-toþed as a rugge boon of a fische, and þanne it was a sawe.
a1400–50 Alexander 4096 A burly best with a bake as bedell as a saȝe.
?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1871) III. 75 After that Ysay was kytte with a sae of tree.
1533 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1905) VI. 155 Ane saw send to the werkmen in Lochaber to cut the tymmer for the artailzerie.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iv. §i. 360 A Box of Anatomick Instruments; sc. Saws, Steel and Ivory Knives [etc.].
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 145 No sound of hammer or of saw was there.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 16 Saws for cutting metals, are made very narrow,..and stretched by a screw at one end.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 343/2 The principal modern use of the saw is to divide wood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > substitution > be a substitute [verb (intransitive)]
to stand for ——OE
to stand in a person's stead?a1515
to be in any one's coat1530
walk1558
to serve the turn of1565
succenturiate1647
commute1653
to hand the saw1654
substitute1675
surrogate1681
to be in (another person's) shoes1767
substitute1888
pinch-hit1911
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > debate, disputation, argument > controversy, dispute, argument > contend, dispute [phrase] > fruitlessly
to fight with one's own shadow1579
to draw the saw (of contention or controversy)1654
1654 Bp. J. Taylor Real Presence Ep. Ded. sig. A2 The Question of Transubstantiation, which hath already so many times passed by the Fire and under the Saw of Contention.
1659 B. Walton Considerator Considered 305 Yet if he think fit to draw this saw of contention further,..I [etc.].
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 101 Now because ghost cannot hand the saw thus with body..Thence 'tis [etc.].
1688 London Gaz. No. 2329/3 It would be of little avail to draw the Saw any longer of Answers and Retorts.
1710 H. Prideaux Orig. & Right Tithes Pref. 12 Neither will I draw the saw of contention with any one in answering any of the Cavils.
a1734 R. North Life F. North (1742) 79 So, between the one and the other, he was held at the Long Saw above a Month.
1768 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 343 Having neither leisure nor inclination to draw the saw of controversy.
c. A flexible saw used as a musical instrument, played with a bow.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > other musical instruments > [noun] > bowed saw, etc.
nail violin1884
musical saw1927
saw1931
1931 Daily Mail 6 Oct. 16/3 Saw solos.
1938 Oxf. Compan. Music 872/1 Singing saw. This is an ordinary hand saw which is held between the player's knees and played on by a violin bow; its blade is meanwhile bent, under a lesser or greater tension, by the player's left hand, so producing the different pitches.
1961 Times 18 Jan. 15/5 An instrument believed to be wholly new in the orchestra pit, the musical saw.
1977 Times 14 Dec. 14/8 The Anal Zephyr Trio does exist..(apart from the pianist) it includes a saw and bottles.
2. Zoology. A part or organ with teeth like those of a saw. Also in combination saw-bearing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > [noun] > part with teeth
saw1664
1664 R. Hubert Catal. Rarities (1665) 32 A very great Saw, or weapon of a Saw-fish, with the which he torments the Whale.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 4 The double Saw is a hard bony Substance.
1747 W. Gould Acct. Eng. Ants 4 They [sc. Ants] have four or five Teeth in a Saw.
a1754 H. Fielding Jrnl. Voy. Lisbon (1755) 131 The sting or saw of a wasp.
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 222 Saw-bearing Hymenoptera (Securifera).
1866 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 508/2 Whales are said to be sometimes killed by sawfishes, and the saw has been sometimes driven into the hull of a ship.
1871 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom (ed. 4) 360 The saws of the various species of Tenthredo are as diversified as the habits of the insects to which they belong.
1885 G. S. Forbes Wild Life in Canara 51 A great saw-fish, which measured about twenty-one feet from the end of the saw to the tail.
3. [ < saw v.1]
a. A sawing movement. (In dictionaries).
b. Whist. = see-saw n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > whist > [noun] > actions or tactics > ruff or ruffing
saw1746
cross-ruff1862
grand coup1864
cross-ruffing1905
1746 E. Hoyle Whist (ed. 6) 36 You gain the Advantage of establishing of a Saw.
1755 Connoisseur No. 60 ⁋4 (1761) II. 195 A forces B, who, by leading Spades, plays into A's Hand, who returns a Club, and so they get a Saw between them.
c1890 Up to Date Games of Cards 37 Saw, is when each partner trumps a different suit, and they play those suits to each other for that purpose.
4. Short for sawfish n. rare.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > member of family Pristiophoridae (sawfish)
monoceros1590
sawfish1664
unicorn1668
serra1854
saw-shark1882
saw1888
1888 G. H. Kingsley in Field 16 June 869/2 Across the mouth of the bay cruised a pair of saws, some ten or twelve feet long.
Compounds
General attributive. C1. Simple attributive.
saw-blade n.
ΚΠ
1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 275 Of the elastic steel, a saw-blade may be considered an example.
saw-carriage n.
ΚΠ
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 345/1 Here they are rolled upon skids leading to the saw-carriage.
saw machine n.
ΚΠ
1822 R. Eastman in Techn. Repository 5 146 (heading) Description of an improved Saw machine with sectional teeth, for the purpose of manufacturing staves, heading and siding.
saw-mandrel n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Saw-mandrel, a holdfast for a saw in a lathe.
1873 J. Richards Operator's Handbk. 117 Saw mandrils..should be as strong as possible, to stand the speed.
saw-mark n.
ΚΠ
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) I. 420 The cross cords become embedded in the saw-marks by the pressure of the sewing thread.
C2. Objective.
saw-filer n.
ΚΠ
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §347 This saw-filer's vice may be obtained [etc.].
saw-filing n.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Saw-filing machine, one for sharpening the teeth of saws.
saw-grinder n.
ΚΠ
1861 Sat. Rev. 21 Dec. 635 The Sawgrinders' Union in Sheffield.
saw-maker n.
ΚΠ
1662 J. A. Comenius Janua Linguarum Trilinguis 103 The saw-maker [maketh] saws.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 9 Saw-makers first harden their plates in the usual way.
saw-piercer n.
ΚΠ
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Saw piercer, a workman who cuts the teeth of saws.
saw-setter n.
ΚΠ
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §342 Any itinerant saw-setter, who goes his regular round..with his bench and files.
saw-setting n.
ΚΠ
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §346 Useful contrivance for saw setting [etc.].
C3. Similative.
saw-backed adj.
ΚΠ
1903 R. Kipling Five Nations 176 The same old saw-backed fever-chart.
1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin v. 77 The angel cowboys..Vaulting on the saw-backed ridges Where they tear the sky to strips.
1961 C. H. D. Todd Pop. Whippet 33 One is often asked about a ‘saw-backed’ dog and what can be done about it.
saw-beaked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > having beak or bill > with particular type of edge
razorbilla1705
razor-billed1748
saw-billed1785
toothed-billed1841
tooth-billed1862
saw-beaked1869
serratirostral-
1869–73 T. R. Jones tr. A. E. Brehm Cassell's Bk. Birds III. 95 The Saw-beaked Alcyons (Syma).
saw-leaved adj.
ΚΠ
1822 S. Clarke Hortus Anglicus II. 252 Saw-leaved Vetch.
saw-like adj.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Scie Scie de mer, a kind of Whall which hath a Saw-like snowt.
1881 Newton in Encycl. Brit. XII. 358/1 Fine, horny, saw-like teeth.
saw-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 1099/2 Securifers, Securiferi,..the females have a saw-shaped or hatchet-shaped terebra.
1868 Rep. Munitions of War 102 The rifling is what is termed in England the Scott or saw-shaped system.
saw-toothed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > mouth > types or spec. teeth > [adjective] > broken or irregular
snaggle-toothed1585
saw-toothed1588
snagged1688
snaggy1703
snaggled1884
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > condition or action of indentation of edge > [adjective] > finely or serrated
tootheda1387
serratile?1541
dented1552
denticle1574
sawed1607
comb-like1615
denticulate1661
denticulated1665
serrate1668
serrated1703
dentated1753
dentulated1796
dentelated1797
dentate1810
serratiform1821
serriform1822
teethed1825
saw-edged1846
serried1848
saw-toothed1857
denticular1878
saw tooth1884
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike i. vi. f. 36v Shee is splayfooted, crookbacked, tunnebellied, sawtoothed, &c.
1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. (1866) 229 Saw-toothed: see serrate.
1866 R. Owen On Anat. Vertebr. II. 495 The saw-toothed Sterrink (Stenorhynchus serridens).
1874 P. B. Eassie Wood 165 Figs. 217 and 218 are each of the kind known as the saw-toothed roof,..used in weaving and other sheds.
saw-topped adj.
C4. Special combinations. Also sawbill n., sawbuck n., etc.† saw battle n. Obsolete a disposition of troops in which the battalions form a serrated front. † sawboard n. Obsolete timber sawn into boards.† saw-carf n. Obsolete = saw-kerf n. and vb.† saw-muscle n. Obsolete = serratus n. † saw-stage n. Obsolete ? = saw pit n.
saw-bar n. either of the two bars which hold the saw in a fretwork machine.
ΚΠ
1875 T. Seaton Man. Fret Cutting 18 An iron eye, screwed in exactly under the lower saw bar.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > other formations
herse1523
shears1562
snail1579
rendy1581
saw battle1598
shear-battle1598
file1616
horn battle1635
sconce-battle1635
potence1760
echelon1796
marching order1819
harrow1876
zariba1887
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iii. 80 The Saw battell..containeth 3 sharpe angles framed of 6 battallions.
saw-bearing adj. (see sense 2).
saw-belly n. U.S. a name for the glut herring ( Clupea æstivalis), and the alewife ( Clupea serrata).
ΚΠ
1884 M. MacDonald in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 582 Around the Gulf of Maine this species is also known by the names ‘Kyack’ or ‘Kyauk’, ‘Saw-belly’, and ‘Cat-thrasher’.
saw-bench n. a circular saw with a bench to support the material and advance it to the saw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > power saws > circular saws
circular saw1815
buzz1823
table saw1832
sawing-bench1845
saw-bench1846
buzz-saw1858
wobble saw1872
slasher1892
rift saw1906
Skilsaw1925
burr-saw-
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 793 The flooring boards..were grooved on each edge upon an ordinary saw bench.
1869 W. J. M. Rankine Cycl. Machine & Hand-tools Pl.Q 16 Improved self-acting saw bench.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > board or plank > collectively
swale1325
plancher1408
planking1432
sawboard1495
planchery1519
plank1559
planchingc1600
deala1618
1495 in M. Oppenheim Naval Accts. & Inventories Henry VII (1896) 226 vijml fote of Sawborde price the c—ijs.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > notch or cut made by saw
saw-kerf1688
saw-carf1775
saw-gate1793
saw-way1823
saw-kerfing1887
1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 9 Dec. (1778) The saw-carf, instead of binding, is always kept gaping.
saw-cut n. an incision made with a saw.
ΚΠ
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 706 The chalk line..marks the edges of the intended saw-cuts with sufficient certainty.
saw-cut v. Bookbinding to make saw-cuts in (the back of a book).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 332/2 Sewing [comes] after saw-cutting the backs for the cords.
saw-doctor n. (a) ‘an instrument having an angular punch for cutting pieces out of the edge of a saw-blade, to increase the depth of the interdental spaces; a saw-gummer’ (Knight); (b) a craftsman who maintains saws in an efficient condition.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > makers of other articles > [noun] > of tools > of specific tools or equipment > who maintains or makes parts of saws
gummer1859
saw-doctor1936
1936 A. M. Rust Whangarei Early Reminisc. 163 Timber was being got..along its..foreshore. Hundreds of bushmen..were employed besides stackers, saw doctors, benchmen and mill-hands in the different sawmills.
1949 J. L. Carvel One Hundred Years in Timber ix. 140 No sawmill can function long without efficient tool-rooms, and at the City Saw Mills the saw-shop and grinding-shop supply these essentials. These are supervised by the saw-doctor.
1977 Belfast Tel. 22 Feb. 22 (advt.) C.D. Monninger Ltd. require Saw Doctor to take charge of the day-to-day running of their new Belfast Service Centre.
saw-edge n. a serrated edge (in quot. 1857 of a ridge of rock).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > condition or action of indentation of edge > [noun] > fine indentation of edge or serration > a serrated edge
saw-edge1857
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago xxi From the highest saw-edges, where Moel Meirch cuts the golden sky, down to the very depth of the abyss.
saw-edged adj. having a serrated edge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > condition or action of indentation of edge > [adjective] > finely or serrated
tootheda1387
serratile?1541
dented1552
denticle1574
sawed1607
comb-like1615
denticulate1661
denticulated1665
serrate1668
serrated1703
dentated1753
dentulated1796
dentelated1797
dentate1810
serratiform1821
serriform1822
teethed1825
saw-edged1846
serried1848
saw-toothed1857
denticular1878
saw tooth1884
1846 L. S. Costello Tour Venice 446 A wall of saw-edged perpendicular rocks.
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 200 Where the saw-edged knife in one of the cylinders perforates the web.
saw-file n. a file specially adapted for sharpening the teeth of saws.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > file > [noun] > other files
jack file1678
knife-file1683
pillar file1683
using-file1683
carlet1688
grail1688
screw-rasp1688
riffler1797
quannet1809
safe edge1815
cross-cut1831
saw-file1846
shouldering file1846
warding file1846
found1874
side file1874
cant-filea1877
pin bone1936
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 689 The files used in sharpening saws are triangular, round, half-round, and mill saw-files.
saw-frame n. (a) the frame in which a saw-blade is stretched; (b) the sash or gate of a mill saw.
ΚΠ
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 442 Let a transverse groove..be cut in the saw-frame to receive that pin.
saw-gin n. a form of cotton-gin in which the fibres are torn from the seed by revolving toothed discs or circular saws.
ΚΠ
1801 Miller & Whitney in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. (1832) 21 222 The machine for separating cotton from its seeds, commonly called the Saw Gin.
saw-ginned adj. prepared by means of the saw-gin.
ΚΠ
1873 Beeton's Dict. Comm. at Cotton Good fair to good saw-ginned Surat cotton.
saw-grass n. (a) = sawwort n.; (b) U.S. a sedge of the genus Cladium.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > saw-grass
sawwort1597
saw-grass1822
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > sedges
starc1300
carexa1398
float-grassc1440
red sedge1480
sag1531
pry grassa1600
flea-grass1670
star-grass1782
sedge1785
sea sedge1796
sharp-pry-grass1803
blue star grass1807
whip-grass1814
flea-sedge1816
saw-grass1822
mud rush1824
tight-locka1825
nut grass1830
razor grass1834
twig-rush1836
nut rush1843
sand grass1856
mud sedge1859
niggerhead1859
nutsedge1861
pingao1867
sword-rush1875
tupak-grass1884
tussock-sedge1884
sennegrass1897
nigger's-head1921
1822 W. H. Simmons Notices E. Florida ii. 24 They were obliged to defend their horses' feet with wrappings of cow-hide, in order to prevent their being injured by the sharp saw grass.
1847 J. G. Whittier Drovers 56 Cows..Disputing feebly with the frogs The crop of saw-grass meadows!
1855 J. Ogilvie Suppl. Imperial Dict. Saw-grass, a kind of coarse grass, bog-rush.
1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 187 Thrusting their snouts amidst the saw-grass.
1891 H. W. V. Stuart Equat. Forests 110 It turned out to be really a vast expanse of water hidden beneath saw-grass, which in some places attains a height of twenty feet.
saw-gummer n. = gummer n.1 b.
ΚΠ
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Saw-gummer, see Gummer.
saw-handle n. (a) the handle of a saw; (b) slang the handle of a ‘saw-handled’ pistol.
ΚΠ
1837 C. J. Lever Harry Lorrequer v My friend there..is a very neat shot when he has the saw-handle.
1892 Daily News 4 Aug. 7/1 The plaintiff..was a saw-handle maker.
1899 Ld. Rosebery Peel 26 But scarcely..is there any memory of so peppery a politician with so constant an inclination to the ‘sawhandles’.
saw-handled adj. having a handle shaped like that of a saw.
ΚΠ
1837 C. J. Lever Harry Lorrequer v Didn't I tell ye, that pistol always threw high... Oh, Fin, if you had only given me the saw-handled one.
saw-horned adj. having serrate antennæ.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > [adjective] > of parts of > of or belonging to or of the nature of antennae > bearing or having antennae > having serrate antennae
saw-horned1862
1862 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects Injurious to Vegetation (ed. 3) 45 Serricorn or saw-horned beetles.
saw-horse n. a frame or trestle for supporting wood that is being sawn, a saw-buck.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > work-bench > for sawing
Jack1580
sawing trestle1611
horse1718
saw-horse1775
buck1817
trestle1823
sawing-bench1845
sawing horse1846
sawing stool1846
wood-horse1849
sawbuck1855
transom1885
1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 9 Dec. (1778) The common saw-horse makes the cutting of it [sc. firewood] a tedious labour-consuming piece of business.
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 601/2 A hen..came in and settled herself in a corner behind a saw-horse.
saw-kerf n. and v. (a) n. = kerf n. 2; (b) v. transitive, to make a saw-kerf in.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > notch or cut made by saw
saw-kerf1688
saw-carf1775
saw-gate1793
saw-way1823
saw-kerfing1887
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > saw > in specific manner or with specific saw
rip1532
whip-saw1842
buck1870
jigsaw1873
ripsaw1881
mill1886
saw-kerf1886
quarter-saw1890
buzz1925
plain saw1951
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 101/1 Kerf, or Saw Kerf.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 344/2 Gang-saws are seldom thicker than 14-gauge, and are successfully worked at 18-gauge, making a saw-kerf or waste of but 1/ 8 inch.
saw-kerfing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > notch or cut made by saw
saw-kerf1688
saw-carf1775
saw-gate1793
saw-way1823
saw-kerfing1887
1887 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) at Saw Curf Soufflot in 1779 employed workmen to saw-kerf the joints of the piers..of S. Geneviève... Wood-bending is often facilitated by saw-kerfing.
saw-log n. (see quot. 1971).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > undressed trunk or log
stockc1000
log1398
round log1768
saw-log1799
1799 D. W. Smyth Short Topogr. Descr. Upper Canada 32 The saw logs are conveyed to this mill in a very remarkable manner.
1831 T. Buttrick Trav. 57 There were also many rafts of boards and shingles timber and saw logs.
1842 C. M. Kirkland Forest Life II. xxxix. 137 We had made perhaps half the distance, when we met a prodigious ‘saw-log’—that is, the huge trunk of a tree, drawn by oxen, on its way to the mill.
1866 Rep. Indian Affairs 83 Hauling saw-logs to the saw-mill.
1885 Rep. Indian Affairs 199 Other Indians had cut and hauled a large number of saw-logs.
1908 S. E. White Riverman iv. 40 A good riverman understands the correlation of forces represented by saw logs and water-pressure.
1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 1 July 6/6 The timber returns for the month of May..show that the total scale of sawlogs for the Province amounted to 94,771,871 ft. [etc.].
1971 Timber Trades Jrnl. 14 Aug. 38/1 It is estimated that quantities from British forests should increase significantly in the next decade and with the improving quality of sawlogs home producers can look forward to obtaining an increasing share of consumption of sawnwood.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > muscle > muscles of specific parts > [noun] > vertebral or costal region
saw-muscle1615
subclavian muscle1615
subclavius1615
latissimus dorsi1616
pectoralis1618
intercostal1681
pectoral1702
pectoralis major1733
pectoralis minor1734
serratus1827
lat1939
pec1949
pect1963
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 795 The second muscle is called Serratus maior or the greater saw-muscle.
saw-pad n. (see pad n.2 18).
ΚΠ
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 712 The key-hole or fret saw-blade..is held in a saw-pad.
saw palmetto n. a palmetto, Serenoa serratula, with prickly leaf-stalks; also, a small cluster palm, Acoelorrhaphe wrightii, of southern Florida and central America.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > palmetto trees or fan-palms
palmite1555
palmetto1582
palmetto tree1582
talipot1681
tamarind-palmetto1698
Chamaerops1766
eta palm1769
cabbage palm tree1773
palmetto bush1784
swamp-cabbage1792
cabbage tree1796
saw palmetto1797
latania1799
hat palm1812
gebang1817
coco de mer?1820
itaa1832
cabbage palm1847
miriti1853
latania1856
moriche1860
broom-palm1866
ilala1868
licuala1872
fan-plant1884
tiger-grass1884
buri1890
latanier1929
Washingtonia1945
1797 B. Hawkins Let. 22 Feb. in Georgia Hist. Soc. Coll. (1916) IX. 85 The whole country was a pine barron, with wiregrass and saw palmetto.
a1816 B. Hawkins Sketch Creek Country 1798 & 1799 in Coll. Georgia Hist. Soc. (1848) III. 20 There is some light pine barren, with saw palmetto and wiregrass.
1861 New Amer. Cycl. XII. 704/1 The saw palmetto..occurs on the southern islands of South Carolina, and in sandy soils southward to Florida.
1894 B. Torrey Florida Sketch-bk. 3 The ground [was] covered thickly with saw palmetto.
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xxv. 317 The bears were..eating the berries of the saw palmetto.
1942 S. Kennedy Palmetto Country 4 Shrub-like saw palmetto underlies the pine flat~woods.
saw-pierced adj. cut out with a frame-saw or piercing-saw.
ΚΠ
1879 Navy List Sept. 490/1 On the star to be mounted a dead gilt laurel wreath and saw pierced garter with regimental motto.
1892 Daily News 10 May 2/4 A saw-pierced picture frame.
saw-piercing n.
ΚΠ
1902 Daily Chron. 15 Oct. 10/7 Art Metal, leaf-beating and saw-piercing.
saw-plate n. (a) the blade of a saw; (b) iron in plates of the thickness of the blade of a saw.
ΚΠ
1837 Lt.-Col. Reid in Civil Engineer & Archit. Jrnl. 1 6/1 Long iron needles pass through holes in the strips of saw-plate, and pin them to the ground.
1837 Lt.-Col. Reid in Civil Engineer & Archit. Jrnl. 1 6/1 To retain the front ones in their places, ties are used made of saw-plate iron.
1865 J. T. F. Turner Familiar Descr. Old Delabole Slate Quarries 16 A continuous dropping of water washes particles of flint sand beneath the saw-plate.
Categories »
saw-sash n. U.S. (see sash frame n. (b) at sash n.2 Compounds 2).
saw-scale n. = saw-scaled viper n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > echis carinatus (saw-scale)
saw-scaled viper1935
saw-scale1964
1964 J. Hillaby Journey to Jade Sea 121 Saw-scales sound like kettles of boiling water.
saw-scaled viper n. a small venomous rough-scaled snake, Echis carinatus, of the family Viperidæ, found in Africa and southern Asia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Viperidae (vipers) > echis carinatus (saw-scale)
saw-scaled viper1935
saw-scale1964
1935 N. L. Corkill in Sudan Notes & Records XVIII. 245 The Carpet or Saw-scaled Viper is usually considered to be a form restricted to a sandy habitat.
1966 C. Sweeney Scurrying Bush xii. 168 A very violent saw-scaled viper crawled out into the open, hissing and rustling its scales against each other.
saw-set n. an instrument for setting the teeth of a saw: also attributive.
ΚΠ
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 697 The saw-set..consists of a narrow blade of steel, with notches of various widths for different saws... In some few cases saw-set pliers are used.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §345 The teeth can be bent to the right or left, as may be requisite, with the saw-set.
saw-shark n. a small shark of the family Pristiophoridæ, found in southern seas from Africa to Australia and distinguished by a saw-like flattened snout.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > member of family Pristiophoridae (sawfish)
monoceros1590
sawfish1664
unicorn1668
serra1854
saw-shark1882
saw1888
1882 J. E. Tenison-Woods Fish & Fisheries New S. Wales 98 The saw-shark must not be confounded with saw-fish.
1906 D. G. Stead Fishes Austral. xii. 236 The Little Saw-Shark..is a small species, having a somewhat flattened body, and attaining a length of about 4 feet.
1931 J. R. Norman Hist. Fishes iii. 35 In..one of the Saw Sharks..there may be as many as six or seven [gill-clefts].
1961 E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 49/1 The four known species of saw sharks have small pectoral fins with the gill openings just ahead of these fins.
saw-sharpener n. (a) one who sharpens saws; (b) a name for the Great Titmouse, Parus major (cf. saw-whetter n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Paridae > [noun] > genus Parus (tit) > parus major (great tit)
great titmouse1544
ox-eye1544
tomtit1648
black cap1802
oven's nesta1825
pick-cheesea1825
Tom-noup1832
saw-sharpener1885
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 33 Great Titmouse (Parus major)..Saw sharpener.
1895 P. H. Emerson Birds, Beasts, & Fishes Norfolk Broadland 63 They [sc. great titmice] are sometimes called ‘saw-sharpeners’ in the building season, from the well-known and peculiar grating noise made by the cock.
1905 Daily Chron. 22 Mar. 8/7 Wood Turner, Fret Cutter and Saw Sharpener.
saw-spindle n. the shaft of a circular saw.
ΚΠ
1819 A. Rees Cycl. XXI. at Machinery Circular saw-spindles are frequently burnt..their motion being very quick.
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 754 The saw spindle is frequently squared at one end.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places for working with specific materials > place for working with wood > [noun] > hole over which wood is sawn
pitOE
saw pit1408
saw-stage1522
sawing pit1560
sawing stage1612
1522 Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/4) For drawyng out of ij battis to ye sawstage.
saw-tail n. a bird ( Temnurus truncatus) inhabiting Cochin China (T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds, 1869–73).
saw-timber n. timber suitable for sawing into boards or planks.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > wood suitable for sawing
boardstock1619
saw-timber1932
1932 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Sept. 4/6 The cutting is always done selectively, large trees being taken for saw timber for new buildings and repairs, and weed trees and defective trees for fuel.
1979 Sci. Amer. Feb. 65/3 In the Western national forests, which constitute..50 percent of the nation's entire supply of standing saw-timber.
saw-way n. = saw-kerf n. and vb.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > notch or cut made by saw
saw-kerf1688
saw-carf1775
saw-gate1793
saw-way1823
saw-kerfing1887
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 220 If planks are sawed longitudinally, through their thickness, the saw-way is called a ripping-cut.
saw-whet n. North American a small dark brown owl, Ægolius acadica, found in eastern North America.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [noun] > family Strigidae > genus Aegolius > aegolius acadicus (saw-whet)
saw-whet1834
stone-owl1869
1834 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. II. 567 The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the ‘Saw-whet’, the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw.
1839 J. J. Audubon Synopsis Birds N. Amer. 24 Ulula Acadica,..Acadian Night-Owl... Saw-whet.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 206 Nyctale acadica... Acadian Owl. Saw-whet Owl.
1894 Outing 23 406/1 The little ‘saw whet’ under his tiny glass globe.
1949 Amer. Forests Oct. 23/1 The saw-whet owl has a peculiar voice.
1959 W. R. Bird These are Maritimes vi. 183 Now I rather like the little fellows [sc. owls], especially the saw-whets.
1977 New Yorker 5 Sept. 24/1 Saw-whet owls and long-eared owls roost in evergreens in winter.
saw-whetter n. (a) = saw-whet n.; (b) the marsh titmouse, Parus palustris.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Paridae > [noun] > genus Parus (tit) > parus palustris (marsh tit)
black cap1668
marsh titmouse1673
marsh tit1802
saw-whetter1885
fen titmouse-
1784 J. Belknap Jrnl. 24 July in Tour to White Mts. (1876) 10 The Dr. saw a blue bird, with a white head, which is said to be a saw-whetter, alias carrion-bird.
1840 P. H. Gosse Canad. Naturalist 92 The sound..is usually thought to resemble the whetting of a saw, and hence the bird from which it proceeds is called the Saw-whetter.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 33 Marsh Titmouse (Parus palustris)..Saw whetter.
saw-work n. Fortification (see quot. 1728).
ΚΠ
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Redens In Fortification, a Kind of Work indented in Form of the Teeth of a Saw... It is also call'd Saw-work.
saw-wrack n. Botany the seaweed Fucus serratus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > fucus seaweeds > tangle
hangera1483
tanglec1540
tang1547
sea-ragged-staff1633
tangle-wrack1721
sea-cabbage1764
prickly tang1795
yellow tang1809
tangle-weed1825
fucoid1848
saw-wrack1868
tangle-work1890
1868 J. Paxton Bot. Dict. Saw-wrack.
saw-wrest n. = saw-set n.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 94 Then with the Saw wrest..they set the Teeth of the Saw.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Saw This is done by putting an Instrument, called a Saw wrist, between every other two Teeth, and giving it a little Wrench.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 477/1 A saw-wrest is used for setting the teeth.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
sawn.2
/sɔː/, U.S. /sɔ/, /sɑ/ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > [noun]
saw9..
quideOE
yedOE
wordOE
wisdomc1175
bysawe?c1225
riotc1330
sentencec1380
textc1386
dict1432
diction1477
redec1480
say1486
adage1530
commonplace?1531
adagy1534
soothsay1549
maxima1564
apophthegm1570
speech1575
gnome1577
aphorisma1593
imprese1593
spoke1594
symbol1594
maxim1605
wording1606
impress1610
motto1615
dictum1616
impresa1622
dictate1625
effate1650
sentiment1780
great thought1821
brocarda1856
text-motto1880
sententia1917
the mind > language > speech > [noun] > that which is or can be spoken
speechc897
saw9..
speech971
wordOE
quideOE
wordsOE
wordOE
thingOE
rouna1225
mouthc1225
queatha1250
breathc1300
reasonc1300
speakingsa1325
swarec1325
saying1340
voicec1350
lorea1375
sermonc1385
carpc1400
gear1415
utterancec1454
parol1474
ditty1483
say1571
said1578
dictumc1586
palabra1600
breathing1606
bringinga1616
elocution?1637
rumblea1680
elocutive1821
vocability1841
deliverance1845
deliverment1850
deliverancy1853
verbalization1858
voicing1888
sayable1937
9.. in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 221/28 Dictu i. dicione, sagu, uel oratione.
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 165/27 Elogium, uel dictio, saga.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 45 Lareow teonan þu wyrhcst us mid þisse sage.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 133 Ðeo apostles hine beden þet he scalde suggen hwet þeo saȝe bicweðe and he seide Semen est uerbum dei.
c1220 Bestiary 600 He sweren bi ðe rode..and he ðe leȝen sone, mid here saȝe and mid here song.
a1225 Leg. Kath. 358 Alle ich iseo þine sahen sotliche isette.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 183 Seinte paweles sahe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14801 Þa he isaid hauede þa sæȝen of ure Drihten.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 377 Heo wenden þat his sawen [c1300 Otho sawes] soðe weren.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 24112 Luue wald i spak, might me wit-stode, Mi reut was all apon þat rode, Na sagh [Edin. MS. sache] þar moght i sai.
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 3557 He was wunt to seye wykked sawes.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1112 Alle seide at o sawe ‘sire, we ȝou rede’.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 383 Hit is comoun sawe þat [þe] contray þat now hatte Scotlond is an out strecching, and is þe norþ partie of þe more Bretayne.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4167 And þan wil naman mak on sau þat we him suld haue broght on dau.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 109 Thenne þe sergauntez, at þat sawe, swengen þer-oute.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 668 Ful litel woot Arcite of his felawe That was so neigh to herknen al his sawe.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 1501 Bot ay boisil dedis and sawes he folowed.
c1480 (a1400) St. Barnabas 84 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 251 Quhen þe paianis hard þis sa, þai sad [etc.].
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 99 I will nocht yat men vnderstand be my sawis, na the king of jerusalem has gude rycht.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 78 Thus we se howe and in what maner pleasaunt sawes are gathered and used, upon the occasion of divers wordes spoken.
a1586 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxxvii. 12 Thair sawis to be suythe sum will suspect.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 100 The counsell and sawe of old men hath in it somewhat..that is pleasing to heare, gracefull, and of venerable regard.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > a narrative or account
talec1200
historyc1230
sawc1320
tellinga1325
treatisec1374
chroniclec1380
process?1387
legendc1390
prosec1390
pistlec1395
treatc1400
relationc1425
rehearsal?a1439
report?a1439
narrationc1449
recorda1450
count1477
redec1480
story1489
recount1490
deductiona1532
repetition1533
narrative1539
discourse1546
account1561
recital1561
enarrative1575
legendary1577
enarration1592
recite1594
repeat1609
texture1611
recitation1614
rendera1616
prospect1625
recitement1646
tell1743
diegesis1829
récit1915
narrative line1953
c1320 Cast. Love 619 Such wonder nas neuer I-herd in sawe.
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 205 Þis þat I haf said it is Pers sawe, Als he in romance laid, þer after gan I drawe.
c1400 St. Alexius (Laud) 393 His moder ne miȝth lete sorouȝ, Neiþer at euene ne at morowe, In sawȝe as it is seide.
c1450 (c1400) Emaré (1908) 319 As y haue herd menstrelles syng yn sawe.
c1480 (a1400) St. Paul 53 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 30 Aymo recordis In his saw, þat [etc.].
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > command > command or bidding > [noun] > a command
wordOE
behestc1175
commandmentc1250
precepta1325
mandementc1325
saw1338
hotea1350
biddinga1400
highta1400
judgementc1405
order1543
imperea1546
command1552
shall?1553
impery1561
mandate1576
mandition1597
imperative1606
fiata1631
mitzvah1723
order of the day1804
hukum1838
prikaz1858
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 250 What for þe kynges sawe, & skille þei vnderstode, & þorgh þe londes lawe, & descent of blod, þe triours alle þat caste, & put þer saw tille on.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8333 Of his sauues þis was an, þat of his barnage sa bald was nan,..in his chamber..A fote to set, bot þai war cald.
14.. 26 Pol. Poems 23 That leueþ trouþe, and falshed vse, And lyue not after goddis sawe.
c1440 York Myst. xlviii. 211 A! myghtfull god, here is it sene, Þou will fulfille þi forward right, And all þi sawes þou will maynteyne.
1566 T. Sternhold & J. Hopkins Whole Bk. Psalms cxix. 97 What great desire and feruent loue, do I beare to thy saw: All the day long my whole deuise, is onely on thy law.
1595 E. Spenser Colin Clouts come Home Againe sig. Ev So loue is Lord of all the world by right, And rules their creatures by his powrfull saw.
4. A sententious saying; a traditional maxim, a proverb. For (old) said saw see said adj. and n.
ΚΠ
a1275 Prov. Ælfred (Trin. Coll. MS.) 35 Þis werin þe sawen of kinc Alfred.
a1275 Prov. Ælfred (Trin. Coll. MS.) 361 Þurch saȝe mon is wis.
c1320 tr. J. Bonaventura Medit. 853 Of salamons sawys ȝe are nat auysed.
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. viii. 124 ‘Lewede lorel!’ quod he ‘luite lokestou on þe Bible, On Salamones sawes seldom þou bi-holdest’.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1599 His sawle is ful of syence, saȝes to schawe.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 441/2 Sawe, or proverbe, proverbium, problema.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur x. lxi. 519 Euer hit is an old sawe gyue a chorle rule and there by he wylle not be suffysed.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 653 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 169 Fore It is sad in elderys saw: ‘ful harde is hungyre in hale maw’.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 265/1 Sawe a proverbe, prouerbe.
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. A*.i And many a saged sawe lies hyd within thine aged brest.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 156 Full of wise sawes, and moderne instances. View more context for this quotation
1632 E. Robertson in W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. To Author B 4 How ruld with Lawes The South world is: their Rites, Religious sawes.
1709 A. Pope Chaucer's January & May in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 190 We, Sirs, are Fools; and must resign the Cause To heathnish Authors, Proverbs, and old Saws.
1764 Oxf. Sausage 172 Alone from Jargon born to rescue Law, From Precedent, grave Hum, and formal Saw!
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. x. 635 The great question now depending was not to be decided by the saws of pedantic Templars.
1859 F. Nightingale Notes on Nursing vii. 39 It is an ever ready saw that an egg is equivalent to a lb. of meat—whereas it is not at all so.
1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket v. ii. 197 For I was musing on an ancient saw, Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sawv.1
/sɔː/, U.S. /sɔ/, /sɑ/ 1. figurative.1579 G. Harvey in Three Proper Lett. (1580) 63 The sixte..is also in the same Predicament, vnlesse happly one of the feete be sawed off wyth a payre of Syncopes.a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 316 Until between these different Usurpations, that pull several ways, the whole Nation will in the end be sawed in Pieces.1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul I. ii. viii. 164 The agony of hatred which was sawing their hearts asunder.in extended use.1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. xii. 109 The grating wind sawed rather than blew.in extended use.1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) I. ix. 289 This wonderful fissure has been sawn through the mountain by the waters of the Tamina.1906 H. Belloc Hills & Sea 17 All the way down the gorge for miles, sawing its cut in sheer surfaces through the rock, crashes a violent stream.
a. transitive. To cut with a saw. Also with adverbs, asunder, away, off, through; and const. into.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > cutting > cut [verb (transitive)] > with a specific instrument
sawa1225
kembc1480
falchiona1529
hatchet1603
jackknife1806
scissor1840
knive1851
knife1890
paper-knife1898
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > saw
sawa1225
a1225 Life St. Juliana 38 Ich makede þen wittie ysaye beon isahet þurh and þurh to deaðe.
a1300 Cursor Mundi 27375 Þe preist bi-gin..Away to sagh þam ilk crote.
c1400 Wyclifite Bible Prol. to Prophets (1850) III. 225 Manasses ordeynede and demyde Isaye to be sawid with ynne a cedre tree.
c1400 Melayne 60 His wyffe & his childire three Byfore his eghne þat he myghte see Be in sondre sawenn.
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) ii. cxlviii. 135 In Iacob and Esau þou hast seyn þe figure; I sawede hem and vnioyned hem.
c1450 Mirour Saluacioun (1888) 10 Some with sawes he suwe.
1483 Cath. Angl. 319/2 To saghe a tre, serrare.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 248/2 She..was taken of the deuyls and departed and sowen a sondre.
1496 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 281 Item, to othir tua sawaris, at sew with thaim, xvij s. viij d.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Runcino, to sawe tymber.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 19v Now sawe out thy timber, for boorde & for pale.
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. To Rdr. sig. *vv Their legges sawed of, their tongues cutte.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. i. 55 If I were sawed into quantities, I should make foure dozen of such berded hermites staues as maister Shallow. View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) 1 Kings vii. 9 Hewed stones, sawed with sawes . View more context for this quotation
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. xi. 37 They were stoned, they were sawen asunder. View more context for this quotation
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. i. 107 By sawing away of trees. View more context for this quotation
1664 J. Wilson Andronicus Comnenius v. i 'Twere better dye at once, Than be thus saw'd in pieces.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 95 When they direct any of their Underlins to saw such a piece of Stuff..seldom say Saw that piece of Stuff.
1719 J. Conduit in Philos. Trans. 1717–19 (Royal Soc.) 30 917 The Letters probably were either sawed off, or turned inwards.
1795 J. Holt Agric. Surv. Lanc. 48 He takes a hand-saw..and saws the top level.
1847 Act 10 & 11 Victoria c. 89 §28 Every Person who..hews, saws, bores, or cuts any Timber or Stone.
1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 43/1 [article Bookbinding] The volumes are then adjusted and clamped up..for the operation of sawing the back. Two or three grooves are..sawn straight across the back of the volume, according to the number of bands on which the book is to be sewed.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxii. 368 Trees were cut down and sawn into planks.
1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 344/1 With a cutting edge of so light a gauge as to waste but little of the valuable timber to be sawed.
b. To cut as a saw does. Also absol. or intransitive.
ΚΠ
a1225 St. Marher. (1862) 22 Ant let scharpe sweord ant eke smart scher hire bi the schuldren ant sahede hire thurhut.
a1325 Prose Psalter (E.E.T.S.) li[i]. 2 Þou dost treccherie as a rasour sharp sauaand.
1664 R. Hubert Catal. Rarities (1665) 31 A tayl of a Stingray, it will saw like an Iron saw.
c. To form by cutting with a saw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > build or construct with wood [verb (transitive)] > saw > form planks with saw
saw1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 698/2 Have you sawed nothyng but these two plankes to daye.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 87 When you Saw the Bevelling angles upon the square ends of Pieces.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits viii. 135 They saw a hole into the head of the ‘winking Virgin’, to know why she winks.
1875 T. Seaton Man. Fret Cutting 15 To most people, this method of sawing out a pattern is inconvenient.
d. absol. To use a saw; to cut with a saw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > work with wood [verb (intransitive)] > saw
sawc1340
c1340 Nominale (Skeat) 116 M. cleuyth the borde and sawith.
1465 Maun. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 309 My mastyr made comenaunt wyth ij. sawers of Donwyche: and thei schalle haue euery werke day that thei saw, vj. d.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. v. 83 You must not Saw just upon the struck line,..Saw therefore right down with the Tennant Saw.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cxiii. 106 Then, 'tis Call the Doctor, Pothecary, Surgeon; Purge, Flux, Launce, Burn, Saw.
1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 184 Carpenters, into whose head the devil put it to saw the whole day.
e. intransitive with passive force. To admit of being sawn.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials having undergone process > of materials: undergo process [verb (intransitive)] > admit of being sawn
saw1726
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 27/1 Beech..will saw into extreme thin Planks.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 57/1 A white sort of Stone..which Saws easier than Wood itself.
2. transferred. With reference to the movement used in sawing.
a. transitive. to saw the air: to gesticulate with the hands as if sawing something invisible. Also to saw one's hand.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > gesturing or gesture > hand gesture > [verb (intransitive)]
to saw the air1603
to saw one's hand1819
facepalm1996
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 4 Do not saw the aire thus with your hands, But giue euery thing his action with temperance.
1819 G. Crabbe Tales of Hall II. xix. 244 ‘And what is proud,’ said Frances, ‘but to stand Singing at church, and sawing thus your hand?’
1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance II. xxxvii. 415 He was puffing, and blowing, and sawing the air with his arms, without ever gaining a single step upon them.
1884 Sat. Rev. 14 June 778/1 With her right hand she ceaselessly saws the air.
b. To work (the bit) from side to side in a horse's mouth. Also with the mouth as object.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > use the bit or mouth roughly
treat1617
saw1850
1850 F. E. Smedley Frank Fairlegh v I..got her head up by sawing her mouth with the snaffle, and put her [the mare] fairly at it.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports 536 If a horse obstinately refuses to stir, the bit may be gently ‘sawed’ from side to side.
c. intransitive. Said of one playing a stringed instrument with a bow.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > playing instruments > playing stringed instrument > play stringed instrument [verb (intransitive)] > play with bow
saw1736
bow1838
1736 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 615/1 Then saw'd and thrumm'd on ev'ry string!
1977 J. Crosby Company of Friends v. 36 Czernowski sawed away at Mozart.
d. transitive. to saw wood, to attend to one's own affairs; to continue working steadily. U.S. colloquial.
ΚΠ
1894 Congress. Rec. 24 Jan. 1347/2 Is it possible that the framers of the bill hold a grudge against the voters who ‘sawed wood’ last November?
1909 ‘O. Henry’ Options 75 During all these wintry apostrophes, Barbara, cold at heart, sawed wood—the only appropriate thing she could think of to do.
1913 F. H. Burnett T. Tembarom xxix. 359 Say nothing and saw wood... It means ‘shut your mouth and keep on working’.
1933 J. Buchan Prince of Captivity iii. i. 264 He sees the next job and sits down to it—stays still and saws wood, as Lincoln said.
e. to saw a chunk (length, piece) off, to copulate. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > sexual organs and reproduction > [verb (intransitive)] > copulate
to go to (the) bull (also cow, horse, etc.)a1393
entera1425
makea1522
lime1555
match1569
generate1605
copulate1632
fere1632
strene1820
pair1908
mate1927
to saw a chunk off1961
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1259/2 Saw off a chunk or a piece, to coït: Canadian: since ca. 1920.
1977 J. Wainwright Do Nothin' v. 86 The act is..known, in polite circles, as ‘copulation’. Known, in less polite circles, as..‘sawing a length off’.
3. transferred. With reference to the sound made by sawing; to saw gourds, etc., to snore loudly. slang (originally U.S.).
ΚΠ
1870 F. H. Ludlow Heart of Continent ii. 91 In five minutes..we were all ‘sawing gourds’ together in the land of Nod.
a1897 ‘R. Sanders’ Sketches Country Life (1898) xxx. 188 When the day's work is done..he can draw his bobtail night shirt about him..knowin that while he sleeps and dreams and saws gourds his worldly possessions are growin.
1939 J. Worby Spiv's Progress ii. 12 I've been in the town and got the grub while you've been sawing them off.
1946 Penguin New Writing 28 184 The deaf-mute was asleep and sawing them off horribly.
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1259/2 Saw them off, to snore; to sleep soundly... Ex the noise made with a saw clumsily handled.
1980 A. Fox Kingfisher Scream iii. 49 Rosemary would be asleep too now, with Don sawing wood beside her.
4. intransitive. (See quot. 1630) ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (intransitive)] > fish with net > with trawl-nets
trawl1561
saw1630
beam-trawl1883
tow-net1891
pair trawl1977
1630 Order in R. Griffiths Ess. Jurisdict. Thames (1746) 68 No Fisherman..shall..saw or search for Barbel within the Limits of London Bridge.
5. transitive. To give a serrated outline to. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > condition or action of indentation of edge > indent the edge of [verb (transitive)] > serrate
tedc1440
tooth1483
engrail1576
serrate1753
saw1780
1780 A. Young Tour Ireland (Dublin ed.) I. 242 The coast is perfectly sawed by bays.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† sawv.2
Obsolete (? nonce-word)
intransitive. To speak in saws.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > speak in maxims [verb (intransitive)]
to sentence it1628
saw1648
aphorize1669
axiomatize1716
apophthegmatize1818
1648 W. Jenkyn Ὁδηγος Τυϕλος i. 13 He saith, or rather saweth thus,..The time will come that youthfull Turnus shall Wish dearly Pallas ne'er has been encountred.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1c1000
n.29..v.1a1225
v.21648