If you saw something, you cut it with a saw. He escaped by sawing through the bars of his cell Your father is sawing wood. A familiar saying, especially one that has become trite through repetition. See Synonyms at saying. Past tense of see. the past tense of see. Tool for cutting solid materials to prescribed lengths or shapes. Most saws take the form of a thin metal strip with teeth on one edge or a thin metal disk with teeth on the edge. The teeth are usually set to alternate sides so that the kerf (groove) cut by the saw is wider than the thickness of the saw; the saw blade can thus move freely in the groove without binding. Thin-strip saws are used in various ways in both hand and machine operations; circular, or disk, saws are always machine powered (see sawing machine, machine tool)
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