*saw*

n. [ 2d back, n. + saw. ] A saw (as a tenon saw) whose blade is stiffened by an added metallic back. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. See Bashaw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A saw with a thin or narrow blade set in a strong frame. [ 1913 Webster ]

def>A circular saw; -- so called from the buzzing it makes when running at full speed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a portable power saw having teeth that are linked to form an endless chain, rotated about two pivot points by a power mechanism, such as an electric motor or a gasoline engine. They are used to efficiently cut trees, logs, or thick branches out of doors.
Syn. -- chain saw. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. pl.; sing. Chickasaw. (Ethnol.) A tribe of North American Indians (Southern Appalachian) allied to the Choctaws. They formerly occupied the northern part of Alabama and Mississippi, but now live in the Indian Territory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From its supposed resemblance to a crown. ] (Mech.) A saw in the form of a hollow cylinder, with teeth on the end or edge, and operated by a rotative motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The trephine was the first of the class of crownsaws. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A narrow-bladed fine-toothed saw for cutting curved outlines.
Syn. -- jigsaw, scroll saw. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pos>n. A saw used with one hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The merganser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A large two-handed saw formerly used to cut logs into planks; one man stood above the log and the other in a pit below. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Quarter-sawed -sawn; p. pr. & vb. n. Quarter-sawing. ] To saw (a log) into quarters; specif., to saw into quarters and then into boards, as by cutting alternately from each face of a quarter, to secure lumber that will warp relatively little or show the grain advantageously. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. To saw again; specifically, to saw a balk, or a timber, which has already been squared, into dimension lumber, as joists, boards, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ See Rip, v. t., 4. ] (Carp.) A handsaw with coarse teeth which have but a slight set, used for cutting wood in the direction of the grain (the fiber); -- called also ripping saw. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. of See. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. sawe, AS. sagu; akin to secgan to say. See Say, v. t. and cf. Saga. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Something said; speech; discourse. [ Obs. ] “To hearken all his sawe.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A saying; a proverb; a maxim. [ 1913 Webster ]

His champions are the prophets and apostles,
His weapons holy saws of sacred writ. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Dictate; command; decree. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Love ] rules the creatures by his powerful saw. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. sawe, AS. sage; akin to D. zaag, G. säge, OHG. sega, saga, Dan. sav, Sw. såg, Icel. sög, L. secare to cut, securis ax, secula sickle. Cf. Scythe, Sickle, Section, Sedge. ] An instrument for cutting or dividing substances, as wood, iron, etc., consisting of a thin blade, or plate, of steel, with a series of sharp teeth on the edge, which remove successive portions of the material by cutting and tearing. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Saw is frequently used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound. [ 1913 Webster ]

Band saw,
Crosscut saw, etc. See under Band, Crosscut, etc. --
Circular saw, a disk of steel with saw teeth upon its periphery, and revolved on an arbor. --
Saw bench, a bench or table with a flat top for for sawing, especially with a circular saw which projects above the table. --
Saw file, a three-cornered file, such as is used for sharpening saw teeth. --
Saw frame, the frame or sash in a sawmill, in which the saw, or gang of saws, is held. --
Saw gate, a saw frame. --
Saw gin, the form of cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney, in which the cotton fibers are drawn, by the teeth of a set of revolving circular saws, through a wire grating which is too fine for the seeds to pass. --
Saw grass (Bot.), any one of certain cyperaceous plants having the edges of the leaves set with minute sharp teeth, especially the Cladium Mariscus of Europe, and the Cladium effusum of the Southern United States. Cf. Razor grass, under Razor. --
Saw log, a log of suitable size for sawing into lumber. --
Saw mandrel, a mandrel on which a circular saw is fastened for running. --
Saw pit, a pit over which timbor is sawed by two men, one standing below the timber and the other above. Mortimer. --
Saw sharpener (Zool.), the great titmouse; -- so named from its harsh call note. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Saw whetter (Zool.), the marsh titmouse (Parus palustris); -- so named from its call note. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Scroll saw, a ribbon of steel with saw teeth upon one edge, stretched in a frame and adapted for sawing curved outlines; also, a machine in which such a saw is worked by foot or power. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. Sawed p. p. Sawed or Sawn p. pr. & vb. n. Sawing. ] 1. To cut with a saw; to separate with a saw; as, to saw timber or marble. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To form by cutting with a saw; as, to saw boards or planks, that is, to saw logs or timber into boards or planks; to saw shingles; to saw out a panel. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Also used figuratively; as, to saw the air. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To use a saw; to practice sawing; as, a man saws well. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cut, as a saw; as, the saw or mill saws fast. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be cut with a saw; as, the timber saws smoothly. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Souari nut. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The alewife. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The merganser. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A nickname for a surgeon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A sawhorse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. [ Colloq., from the Roman X for ten, like the support of a sawbuck. ] a ten-dollar bill; also,
double sawbuck, a twenty-dollar bill. [ PJC ]

a. See Sauseflem. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A corrupt spelling and pronunciation of solder. [ 1913 Webster ]

Soft sawder, seductive praise; flattery; blarney. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Dust or small fragments of wood (or of stone, etc.) made by the cutting of a saw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who saws; a sawyer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any one of several species of elasmobranch fishes of the genus Pristis. They have a sharklike form, but are more nearly allied to the rays. The flattened and much elongated snout has a row of stout toothlike structures inserted along each edge, forming a sawlike organ with which it mutilates or kills its prey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of hymenopterous insects belonging to the family Tenthredinidae. The female usually has an ovipositor containing a pair of sawlike organs with which she makes incisions in the leaves or stems of plants in which to lay the eggs. The larvae resemble those of Lepidoptera. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of rack, shaped like a double St. Andrew's cross, on which sticks of wood are laid for sawing by hand; -- called also buck, and sawbuck. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mill for sawing, especially one for sawing timber or lumber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A merganser. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

. See under Palmetto. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An instrument used to set or turn the teeth of a saw a little sidewise, that they may make a kerf somewhat wider than the thickness of the blade, to prevent friction; -- called also saw-wrest. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) An arctic seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), having the molars serrated; -- called also crab-eating seal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a tooth or teeth like those of a saw; serrate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A psaltery. [ Obs. ] Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small North American owl (Nyctale Acadica), destitute of ear tufts and having feathered toes; -- called also Acadian owl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Any plant of the composite genus Serratula; -- so named from the serrated leaves of most of the species. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Saw-set. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Saw + -yer, as in lawyer. Cf. Sawer. ] 1. One whose occupation is to saw timber into planks or boards, or to saw wood for fuel; a sawer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A tree which has fallen into a stream so that its branches project above the surface, rising and falling with a rocking or swaying motion in the current. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The bowfin. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Probably a reduplication of saw, to express the alternate motion to and fro, as in the act of sawing. ] 1. A play among children in which they are seated upon the opposite ends of a plank which is balanced in the middle, and move alternately up and down. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A plank or board adjusted for this play. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A vibratory or reciprocating motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

He has been arguing in a circle; there is thus a seesaw between the hypothesis and fact. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Whist.) Same as Crossruff. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Seesawad p. pr. & vb. n. Seesawing. ] To move with a reciprocating motion; to move backward and forward, or upward and downward. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to move backward and forward in seesaw fashion. [ 1913 Webster ]

He seesaws himself to and fro. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Moving up and down, or to and fro; having a reciprocating motion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The great titmouse; -- so called from its harsh call notes. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bow-saw. [ 1913 Webster ]