Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various marine fishes of the genus Pristis, related to the rays and skates and having a bladelike snout with teeth along both sides.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. 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. The body is elongate like that of a shark, but is depressed, and the branchial apertures are inferior. The first dorsal is opposite or a little back of the bases of the ventrals. Five or six species of the genus are known; they are chiefly inhabitants of the tropical oceans, but occasionally wander beyond their ordinary limits. The European species is Pristis antiquorum, the pristis of the ancients, of the Atlantic Ocean, attaining a length of from 10 to 20 feet, and of a grayish color. The common American saw-fish is Pristis pectinatus. The saw attains a length of a yard or more, and is straight, flat, a few inches wide, obtuse at the end, and furnished in the European species with from sixteen to twenty pairs, and in the American with from twenty-four to thirty-two pairs of stout sharp teeth, firmly implanted at some distance apart; it is used as a weapon of offense and defense, especially in killing prey. See also cut under
Pristis . - n. 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.
Wiktionary
- n. A fish having the snout in a saw shape.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (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.
WordNet 3.0
- n. primitive ray with sharp teeth on each edge of a long flattened snout
Etymologies
- saw + fish (Wiktionary)
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.”
“The primary problem with the sawfish is the habitat loss,”
“Abstract: The freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon is a critically endangered elasmobranch. snip”
“Abstract: The freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon is a critically endangered elasmobranch.”
“Ontogenetic depth partitioning by juvenile freshwater sawfish Pristis microdon: Pristidae in a riverine environment”
“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.”
“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.”
“Also, I really miss the ultra flexibility of sawfish, may it rest in peace.”
“This is true swordfish, xiphias gladius, not to be confused with sawfish, pristis pectinata, which is a north Atlantic fish often sold as "swordfish steaks" in US restaurants.”
A Guide to Mexican Fish and Shellfish - Part Two: Las Delicias del Mar
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sawfish’.
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 636 more...
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fish list
lots and lots of fish, a piscatorial
wetdreamablet, agnathan, ahi, ahuru, ahuruhuru, albacore, albicore, alec, alewife, allice, allis, amberjack and 840 more...
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sharks, rays and skates
about 330 species of sharks
about 450 species of rays and
skatesangel shark, angelfish, basking shark, blue pointer blue..., bronze whaler, bull-head shark, carpet shark, devil ray, devilfish, dog shark, dogfish, elasmobranch and 119 more...
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Weaponized animals
cut-throat finch, jack-knifefish, spear-winged fly, ghost knifefish, riflebird, bombardier beetle, daggernose shark, dagger nematode, daggertooth pike ..., swordfish, bomb fly, hammer-headed bat and 104 more...
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rays & x-rays
raised rays
cow-nosed ray, x-ray, roentgenogram, radiogram, sunray, tomograph, whipparee, oxeye, thulium, raster, moonbeam, robinia and 86 more...
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Underwaterritory
When you're underwater, what do you see or experience? Let's dive...
(Here's a cute little related list called Fishful Thinking...)underwater, curglaff, submarine, underwater habitat, diving bell, paravane, bottom trawling, sediment traps, torpedo, mines, shipwreck, sonar and 214 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sawfish.
Prolagus Ha! Jun 11, 2009
reesetee Heehee! Jun 11, 2009
asativum Past tense of seafish, which is what one does snorkeling. Jun 11, 2009