saw

• 

  "'I saw it first—'tis mine—let go!'"
• WordNet 3.6
  • v saw cut with a saw "saw wood for the fireplace"
  • n saw a power tool for cutting wood
  • n saw hand tool having a toothed blade for cutting
  • n saw a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
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Additional illustrations & photos:

"He saw an old man, who seemed to be very weary."

Gang-Saw

Band-Saw

Cut-off-Saw

Rip Saw Teeth

Rip-Sawing on a Horse

Using a Turning Saw

Saw-Vise

• Interesting fact: Tohru Iwatani, the inventor of the video game Pac-Man, came up with the idea when he saw a pizza with a slice missing at a dinner party
• • Saw imp. of See.
  • Saw A saying; a proverb; a maxim. "His champions are the prophets and apostles,
    His weapons holy saws of sacred writ."
  • Saw Also used figuratively; as, to saw the air.
  • n Saw 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.☞ Saw is frequently used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound.
  • Saw Dictate; command; decree. "Love] rules the creatures by his powerful saw ."
  • Saw Something said; speech; discourse. "To hearken all his sawe ."
  • Saw To be cut with a saw; as, the timber saws smoothly.
  • Saw To cut with a saw; to separate with a saw; as, to saw timber or marble.
  • Saw To cut, as a saw; as, the saw or mill saws fast.
  • Saw 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.
  • Saw To use a saw; to practice sawing; as, a man saws well.
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• Interesting fact: A bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed every animal in the Berlin Zoo except the elephant, which escaped and roamed the city. When a Russian commander saw hungry Germans chasing the elephant and trying to kill it, he ordered his troops to protect it and shoot anyone who tried to kill it
• • n saw A cutting-tool consisting of a metal blade, band, or plate with the edge armed with cutting teeth, worked either by a reciprocating movement, as in a hand-saw, or by a continuous motion in one direction, as in a circular saw, a band-saw, and an annular saw. Saws are for the most part made of tempered steel. The teeth of the smaller kinds are formed by cutting or punching in the plate interdental spaces or gullets. In saws of large size inserted or removable teeth are now much used. Small saws are generally provided with a single handle of hard wood; larger saws, for use by two workmen, have a handle at each end. Reciprocating saws more generally have their teeth inclined toward the direction of their cutting-stroke (see rake, n., 1), but some cut in both directions equally. To cut freely, saws must have, for most purposes, what is called set—that is, alternate teeth must be made to project somewhat laterally and uniformly from opposite sides of the saw in order that the kerf or saw-cut may be somewhat wider than the thickness of the saw-blade. This prevents undue friction of the sides of the blade against the sides of the kerf. Some saws, however, as surgeons' saws, hack-saws, etc., have little or no set, and undue friction against the kerf is prevented by making the blades of gradually decreasing thickness from the edge toward the back.
  • n saw A saw-blade together with the handles or frame to which the blade is attached, as a hand-saw, wood-saw, or hack-saw.
  • n saw In zoology and comparative anatomy, a serrated formation or organ, or a serrated arrangement of parts of formations or organs. The set of teeth of a merganser, as Mergus serrator.
  • n saw A sawing-machine, as a scroll-saw or jig-saw.
  • n saw The act of sawing or see-sawing; specifically, in whist [U. S.], same as see-saw, 3 .
  • n saw In surgery, a trephine.
  • n saw Particularly, a saw used by lumbermen for cutting logs from tree-trunks, having an edge slightly convex in the cutting-plane, a handle at each end projecting from and at right angles with the back in the plane of the blade, and teeth filed so that the saw cuts when drawn in either direction. It is operated by two workmen, one at each handle.
  • n saw (See also back-saw, band-saw, belt-saw, buzz-saw, center-saw, chain-saw, fret-saw, gang-saw, gig-saw, ice-saw, jig-saw, rabbet-saw, ring-saw, etc.)
  • saw To cut or divide with a saw; cut in pieces with a saw.
  • saw To form by cutting with a saw: as, to saw boards or planks (that is, to saw timber into boards or planks).
  • saw To cut or cleave as with the motion of a saw.
  • saw In bookbinding, to score or cut lightly through the folded edges of, as the gathered sections of a book, in four or five equidistant spaces. The stout bands which connect the book to its covers are sunk in the saw-track, and the sewing-thread which holds the leaves together is bound around these bands.
  • saw To use a saw; practise the use of a saw; cut with a saw.
  • saw To be cut with a saw: as, the timber saws smoothly.
  • n saw A saying; speech; discourse; word.
  • n saw A proverbial saying; maxim; proverb.
  • n saw A tale; story; recital. Compare saga.
  • n saw A decree.
  • n saw Synonyms Axiom, Maxim, etc. See aphorism.
  • n saw Preterit of see.
  • n saw A Scotch form of salve.
  • n saw A keyhole saw; a saw which has a very narrow, thin blade, so that it can turn comers.
  • n saw A circular saw turning in a vertical plane or with its shaft horizontal.
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• Interesting fact: The name for Oz in "The Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."
• • pa.t Saw saw of see.
  • n Saw saw an instrument for cutting, formed of a blade, band, or disc of thin steel, with a toothed edge
  • v.t Saw to cut with a saw
  • v.i Saw to use a saw: to be cut with a saw:—pa.t. sawed; pa.p. sawed or sawn
  • n Saw saw a saying: a proverb: a degree: a joke.
  • n Saw saw (Scot.) salve.
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• John Calvin

  

  “A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.”
• Laurence Fishburne

  

  “I've played a lot of bad guys, 'cause that was the only work I could get. People saw my face and went Oooh.”
• Bernard M. Baruch

  

  “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.”
• Irving Layton

  

  “God is indeed dead. He died of self-horror when He saw the creature He had made in His own image.”
• Seneca

  

  “So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you.”
• De Delloy

  

  “The more I saw of foreign countries the more I loved my own.”

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