What does sawbuck mean?
The word sawbuck names a wooden or metal support frame on which a large crosscut saw is mounted, allowing timber to be cut with the blade elevated above the ground. In this sense it is a regional and occupational synonym for sawhorse and carries no unusual connotation beyond its practical association with lumbering and woodworking. Sawbuck also has a separate, chiefly North American slang sense for a dollar. That monetary use is now dated and uncommon, but it makes the word memorable and connects it with older stories of work, wages, and hard cash. In modern writing, sawbuck is most likely to appear in descriptions of carpentry, logging, historical scenes, or traditional sawing contests. It is normally pronounced with stress on the first syllable, and the plural is sawbucks. Although the precise history of the compound is not entirely certain, its imagery links the bucking frame of a saw with the older slang term buck for a dollar.
nounA trestle or frame on which a saw is mounted for cutting wood; also, in chiefly North American informal usage, a dollar.
- A wooden or metal frame on which a crosscut saw is mounted for cutting timber.
- Chiefly North American informal slang for a dollar.
"He paid for the ticket with a sawbuck and hurried back to the counter."
"The log rested securely across the sawbuck while the carpenter made the cut."
"The old photograph showed two lumberjacks posing beside a sawbuck, each holding a broad grin."
The regular plural is sawbucks.
"The workshop kept several old sawbucks near the entrance."
A sawbuck could mean either a sawhorse or a dollar—proof that even a lumberjack’s tool can have a punchline.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sawbuck come from?
Sawbuck is an English compound associated with the vocabulary of woodworking and lumbering. It is commonly explained as an alteration of sawhorse, with the buck element also reflecting the older slang buck, meaning a dollar, although the precise development is not fully certain. By the nineteenth century, sawbuck was in use both for the frame supporting a saw and for a dollar in informal North American speech.
How sawbuck is actually used
The tool sense is regional and occupational in tone but remains ordinary in lumbering, woodworking, and historical contexts. The sense meaning a dollar is dated, uncommon informal North American slang.
Easily confused with sawbuck
A sawbuck is a type of sawhorse, while sawhorse is the more general and familiar name for any frame used to support a saw.
A sawbuck is the frame that supports a saw, whereas a bucksaw is the framed crosscut saw itself.