saw

For the verb: "to saw"

Simple Past:	sawed, saw
Past Participle:	sawed, seen

Multiple Entries:
  saw    see  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
saw1

▶noun

• 1 a hand tool for cutting wood and similar material, typically having a long, thin serrated blade and operated using a backwards and forwards movement.

  ■ a mechanical power-driven cutting tool with a toothed rotating disc or moving band.

• 2 Zoology a serrated organ or part, e.g. the toothed snout of a sawfish.

▶verb (past part. chiefly Brit. sawn or chiefly N. Amer. sawed)

• 1 cut, make, or form with a saw.

  ■ cut as if with a saw, especially roughly.

  ■ make rapid sawlike motions.

• 2 (saw off) Canadian compromise by making concessions.

– origin OE saga, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
saw2

past of see1.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
saw3

▶noun a proverb or maxim.

– origin OE sagu ‘a saying, speech’, of Gmc origin; rel. to say and saga.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
see1

▶verb (sees, seeing, saw; past part. seen)

• 1 perceive with the eyes.

  ■ watch (a game, film, or other entertainment).

  ■ experience or witness (an event or situation).

• 2 deduce after reflection or from information.

  ■ ascertain or establish after inquiry or consideration.

• 3 regard in a specified way.

  ■ envisage as a possibility.

• 4 meet (someone one knows) socially or by chance.

  ■ meet regularly as a boyfriend or girlfriend.

  ■ consult (a specialist or professional).

  ■ give an interview or consultation to.

• 5 escort to a specified place.

• 6 ensure.

• 7 (in poker or brag) equal the bet of (an opponent) and require them to reveal their cards to determine who has won the hand.

– phrases
let me see said as an appeal for time to think before speaking.
see one's way clear to do (or doing) something find that it is possible or convenient to do something.
see someone coming recognize a person who can be fooled.
see someone right Brit. informal make sure that a person is appropriately rewarded or looked after.
see the back of informal be rid of.

– phrasal verbs
see about (or see to) attend to or deal with.
see after chiefly N. Amer. or archaic look after.
see something of spend a specified amount of time with (someone) socially.
see someone off

• 1 accompany a person who is leaving to their point of departure.

• 2 Brit. repel an intruder.

  ■ informal deal with the threat posed by.

see someone out Brit. (of an article) last longer than the remainder of someone's life.
see something out come to the end of a period of time or undertaking.
see over tour and examine.
see through detect the true nature of.
see someone through support a person through a difficult time.
see something through persist with an undertaking until it is completed.

– derivatives
seeable adjective.

– origin OE sēon, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
see2

▶noun the place in which a cathedral church stands, identified as the seat of authority of a bishop or archbishop.

– origin ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. sed, from L. sedes ‘seat’, from sedere ‘sit’.