Meaning & use
saw
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Meanings
nouncountable
A tool with a blade edged with sharp teeth, used for cutting wood or other hard materials.
Grammar: Takes a plural: saws; types include hand saw and chainsaw.
Patterns
- a saw for cutting something
He cut the plank with a hand saw.
The workshop had a large electric saw.
Hand me the saw from the toolbox.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To cut something using a saw, or to move back and forth as if using a saw.
Grammar: Past participle can be sawed or sawn: sawed the board.
Patterns
- saw something in half
- saw through something
They sawed the log into planks.
He sawed through the branch.
She sawed at the rope with a knife.
verbtransitive or intransitive
The past tense of see: noticed or looked at with the eyes.
Grammar: Irregular past of see: I saw her yesterday.
Patterns
- saw someone do something
I saw my teacher at the market.
They saw the film last night.
She saw the bus and ran.
nouncountableold-fashioned
A well-known saying that expresses common wisdom, often called an old saw.
Grammar: Usually old saw.
Patterns
- an old saw
The old saw says that practice makes perfect.
He repeated the familiar saw about early birds.
An old saw warns against counting your chickens.
Word forms
| plural | saws |
|---|---|
| third person singular | saws |
| past tense | sawed |
| past participle | sawn |
| -ing form | sawing |
Common combinations
- electric saw
- He cut the board with an electric saw.
- saw through
- The thief sawed through the bar.
- hand saw
- A hand saw is cheaper than a power tool.
- circular saw
- The circular saw is loud.
- old saw
- It is an old saw, but it is true.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: saw or seen?
saw vs seen
Seen is the past participle of see and needs have: I have seen it, not I have saw it.
Practice
I ___ him at the station yesterday, but he did not see me.
Choose one answer.
Saw is the simple past of see. Seen cannot stand alone, and sawed is the past of the cutting verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “saw”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.