sawfish

noun

saw·​fish ˈsȯ-ˌfish How to pronounce sawfish (audio)
: any of a family (Pristidae) of large elongated rays that resemble sharks but have a long flattened snout with a row of serrate structures along each edge and that live in tropical and subtropical shallow seas and in or near the mouths of rivers

Examples of sawfish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Then sawfish began washing up dead in the same shallow waters, launching an unusual rescue effort. — Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 22 July 2025 This was one of the reasons researchers believed sharks and other cartilaginous fish, including stingrays and sawfish, were silent. — Christopher Cann, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2025 The challenge, however, is finding out where sawfish populations remain —and in what numbers. — Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024 Kyne and his colleagues are testing devices that generate electric fields underwater to make sawfish swim away from nets so they don’t get entangled. — David Shiffman, The Conversation, 11 July 2023 See All Example Sentences for sawfish

Word History

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sawfish was in 1635

Rhymes for sawfish

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Browse Nearby Words

saw file
sawfish
sawfly
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Cite this Entry

“Sawfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sawfish. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Kids Definition

sawfish

noun
saw·​fish ˈsȯ-ˌfish How to pronounce sawfish (audio)
: any of several mostly tropical rays that resemble sharks but have a long flat snout with sharp toothlike structures along both edges

More from Merriam-Webster on sawfish

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sawfish

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