| palmetto | <botany> A name given to palms of several genera and species growing in the West Indies and the Southern United States. In the United States, the name is applied especially to the Chamaerops, or Sabal, Palmetto, the cabbage tree of Florida and the Carolinas. See Cabbage tree, under Cabbage. Royal palmetto, the West Indian Sabal umbraculifera, the trunk of which, when hollowed, is used for water pipes, etc. The leaves are used for thatching, and for making hats, ropes, etc. Saw palmetto, Sabal serrulata, a native of Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. The nearly impassable jungle which it forms is called palmetto scrub. Origin: Dim. Of palm the tree: cf. Sp. Palmito. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| Gigli's saw | A hand-held wire saw for use in craniotomy or pubiotomy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| saw | An instrument for cutting or dividing substances, as wood, iron, etc, consisting of a thin blade, or plate, of steel, with a series of sharp teeth on the edge, which remove successive portions of the material by cutting and tearing. Saw is frequently used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound. Band saw, Crosscut saw, etc. See Band, Crosscut, etc. Circular saw, a disk of steel with saw teeth upon its periphery, and revolved on an arbor. Saw bench, a bench or table with a flat top for for sawing, especially with a circular saw which projects above the table. Saw file, a three-cornered file, such as is used for sharpening saw teeth. Saw frame, the frame or sash in a sawmill, in which the saw, or gang of saws, is held. Saw gate, a saw frame. Saw gin, the form of cotton gin invented by Eli Whitney, in which the cotton fibres are drawn, by the teeth, of a set of revolving circular saws, through a wire grating which is too fine for the seeds to pass. <botany> Saw grass, the marsh titmouse (Parus palustris); so named from its call note. Scroll saw, a ribbon of steel with saw teeth upon one edge, stretched in a frame and adapted for sawing curved outlines; also, a machine in which such a saw is worked by foot or power. Origin: OE. Sawe, AS. Sage; akin to D. Zaag, G. Sage, OHG. Sega, saga, Dan. Sav, sw. Sag, Icel. Sog, L. Secare to cut, securis ax, secula sickle. Cf. Scythe, Sickle, Section, Sedge. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| saw-whet | <zoology> A small North American owl (Nyctale Acadica), destitute of ear tufts and having feathered toes. Synonym: Acadian owl. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| saw-wort | <botany> Any plant of the composite genus Serratula; so named from the serrated leaves of most of the species. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Stryker saw | A rapidly oscillating saw used for cutting bone or plaster casts; it cuts hard matter, but soft tissues give and thus are not injured. (05 Mar 2000) |