saw at

ˈsaw at [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they saw at he/she/it saws at present participle sawing at past tense sawed at past participle sawn at] phrasal verb

to move a knife or other object backwards and forwards several times across something, especially in order to cut it

Rick was sawing at the piece of chicken with his penknife.

Thesaurus: to use a tool_hyponym to dig_synonym

Main entry: saw

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saw at [phrasal verb]

saw at (something) : to try to cut (something) by moving a saw, knife, etc., backwards and forwards

She was sawing (away) at the turkey with a dull knife.

— sometimes used figuratively

The violinist sawed (away) at the strings.

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Main Entry: ↑saw