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saw-toothed

saw-toothed

1 6.4
With a jagged edge of sharp, regular teeth like a saw
  • adjective
  • /ˈsɔːˌtuːθd/
translation icon : aserrado
  • Cactus, broom, and saw-toothed brumelia grow beside the roadbed, and silvery eucalyptus trees, native to Australia, grow in the temperate air of the valleys.
  • saw-toothed leaves
  • saw-toothed mountains
  • saw-toothed edges

Examples

  • The fence was topped with saw-toothed spikes that added an element of protection.

  • The saw-toothed edges of the knife make it ideal for cutting through tough materials.

  • A forest of smaller members, two or three feet long, surrounded a saw-toothed beak at the center of the assemblage.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Unsheathes the saw-toothed knife. Sheathes it.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The saw-toothed knife flies the length of the room and buries in Starling's neck.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • His crested helm hung from his saddle bow, alongside an ugly saw-toothed war hammer.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Some ridges are "saw-toothed," while others are blunted and fused.

    Academic text (2001)
  • At first, the stranger was just a silhouette on the hill framed by the saw-toothed battlements of the Ford Rouge Plant.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • When Oppian refers to the wolf as "saw-toothed" and "bloody," he alludes, of course, to the fact that it is carnivorous. Though this could be taken as a mere statement of fact, natural historians, poets, and philosophers drew ethical lessons from it.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Vapor rose in patches out of the gorge where thirty feet below, water spilled noisily from conduits, flowing and steaming in a saw-toothed passage through ice.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

serrate
vssaw-toothed
1 7.5

An edge with small teeth like a saw

is the plain description of a regularly notched sharp edge
sawtoothed-edged
vssaw-toothed
6.7

Leaves with edges that have sharp points like teeth

is the general term for any edge with regular sharp notches
serrated
vssaw-toothed
5.4

An edge with small teeth that point toward the tip

is similar but describes the same pattern without technical focus
toothed
vssaw-toothed
3.9

Having a jagged edge with small points like teeth

is more specific about the regularity and sharpness of the notches
teethy
vssaw-toothed
8.3

A jagged edge like a saw

focuses more on regular, sharp notches rather than roughness alone
saw-like
vssaw-toothed
5.5

Having small sharp teeth along the edge that cut or tear

describes shape rather than the ability to cut or tear
notched
vssaw-toothed
3.9

With edges that have small cuts or gaps

specifies a regular sharp tooth pattern rather than any single notch

Antonyms

1 2.4

Having a smooth, curved shape with no sharp points

How Jagged

saw-toothed
1 6.4
jagged
22 3.6
uneven
42 2.3
smooth
256 1.0

Surface Forms

saw-toothed positive

Morphology

saw-toothed = saw + tooth (transparent) = saw + tooth + ed

The adjective is formed by adding '-ed' to the compound 'saw'+'tooth', giving the straightforward meaning 'having teeth like a saw'.

Etymology

Saw-toothed comes from the tool saw, known for its sharp 'teeth', and the word tooth, which means a small sharp point. So something saw-toothed has an edge with regular, tooth-like notches, like a saw blade or the edge of a leaf.