Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A saw consisting of a tough, fine-toothed blade stretched taut in a frame, used for cutting metal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A saw, with a blade that is put under tension, for cutting metal
  • verb To cut with a hacksaw.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun saw used with one hand for cutting metal

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of Middle English hagge-saue, a kind of saw : haggen, to cut, chop; see haggle + sawe, saw; see saw.]

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Examples

  • A comparison of the tool marks showed that both it and the hacksaw were the same tools used to create the trap at the bus stop, and the boots were the same brand and size too.

    The Burning Wire Jeffery Deaver 2010

  • A comparison of the tool marks showed that both it and the hacksaw were the same tools used to create the trap at the bus stop, and the boots were the same brand and size too.

    The Burning Wire Jeffery Deaver 2010

  • I think the "hacksaw" is a lighter ... for No Smoking.

    Chuck Norris, Bakery Defender Jen 2009

  • Others have writer friends who lend them a hacksaw on occasion.

    My husband, the world wrecker « 2009

  • In desperation, I attempted to detach part of Frankenloaf and sample it, but it resisted every tool at my disposal and now I need a new hacksaw.

    In Which I Fail to Tempt the Gods Ulysses 2009

  • Aliodor looked for a hacksaw to cut her free, but she died in front of him.

    Haiti Suffers Year Of Crisis With Nobody In Charge AP 2011

  • Aliodor looked for a hacksaw to cut her free, but she died in front of him.

    Haiti Suffers Year Of Crisis With Nobody In Charge AP 2011

  • Others have writer friends who lend them a hacksaw on occasion.

    2009 February « 2009

  • Nicknamed “Doc” and “the Surgeon,” he kept a hacksaw and butcher knife in a bag and referred to them as his “tools.”

    Kill the Irishman Rick Porrello 2011

  • The pits furnish a bit of counterpoint crudity to Ms. Bontecou's unrelenting elegance: The lumberyard red ends of the pine two-by-sixes are left showing, and a hacksaw blade lies, as if forgotten, on top.

    Abstract (Semi) and Phantasmagorical Peter Plagens 2011

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