Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various marine cartilaginous fishes of the family Pristidae, having a sharklike body and a long thin snout with teeth along both sides.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An elasmobranchiate or selachian fish of the family Pristidæ, having the snout prolonged into a flat saw or serra beset on each side with horizontal teeth pointing sidewise.
- noun Hence also By extension, one of the different selachians of the family Pristiophoridæ, 337 having a similar saw-like appendage, which never reaches such a size as in the Pristidæ, or true saw-fishes. They are confined to the Pacific. See cut under
Pristiophorus .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) 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.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A fish having the snout in a saw shape.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun primitive ray with sharp teeth on each edge of a long flattened snout
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sawfish.
Examples
-
As the sawfish is a species of shark, Dick had no hesitancy about killing it, but wanted Molly to first see his captive and have a look at her saw, before it left the place where it grew.
Dick in the Everglades A. W. Dimock
-
"The primary problem with the sawfish is the habitat loss,"
NBC2 News 2009
-
Abstract: The freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon is a critically endangered elasmobranch.
Breaking News: Ontogenetic Depth 2.0! - The Panda's Thumb 2010
-
Ontogenetic depth partitioning by juvenile freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon: Pristidae in a riverine environment
Breaking News: Ontogenetic Depth 2.0! - The Panda's Thumb 2010
-
Mind you, I was required to blithely swim about in the company of sawfish, sea turtles, and a couple of seven-foot tiger sharks while disguised from the pupek down as a lovely piece of Nova lox.
With Love and Laughter, John Ritter Amy Yasbeck 2010
-
Ontogenetic depth partitioning by juvenile freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon: Pristidae in a riverine environment
Breaking News: Ontogenetic Depth 2.0! - The Panda's Thumb 2010
-
Abstract: The freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon is a critically endangered elasmobranch. snip
Breaking News: Ontogenetic Depth 2.0! - The Panda's Thumb 2010
-
Ontogenetic depth partitioning by juvenile freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon: Pristidae in a riverine environment
Breaking News: Ontogenetic Depth 2.0! - The Panda's Thumb 2010
-
Migrant pelagic include tunnies Thunnus spp., smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata guitarfish Rhinobatos spp., and smooth hammerhead shark Sphyrna zygaena.
-
Nineteen other species of invertebrates are known: three species of early sirenian (sea cow), one partial skeleton of the primitive proboscidian Moeritherium, early mammals, sharks, crocodiles, three kinds of sawfish, rays, cartilaginous and bony fishes, several kinds of turtles, including a sea turtle and a sea snake.
asativum commented on the word sawfish
Past tense of seafish, which is what one does snorkeling.
June 11, 2009
reesetee commented on the word sawfish
Heehee!
June 11, 2009
Prolagus commented on the word sawfish
Ha!
June 12, 2009