Other forms: hacksaws
A hacksaw is a fine-toothed saw in a frame, for cutting metal. Use a hacksaw, a hacksaw blade, cut it with a hacksaw.
The blade is thin and held in tension by the frame, which is the only thing that stops it buckling, and it must be fitted the right way round: it cuts on the push stroke. Blades are sold by teeth per inch, and thin metal needs the finer ones.
1nounhacksawA fine-toothed saw in a frame, for cutting metal.
“He cut through the rusty metal pipe with a hacksaw.”
hacksaw is a tool.
Hack plus saw, recorded from 1867 as the tool spread with machine shops.
From hack + saw. Attested since 1867.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA