Word.ws English Dictionary

sawpit

Syllables: saw·pitUK/ˈsɔːpɪt/US/ˈsɔpɪt/

sawpit noun: a pit over which lumber is positioned to be sawn with a long two-handled saw (a pitsaw) by two people, one standing above the timber and the other in the pit below.

sawpit: a pit over which lumber is positioned to be sawn with a long two-handled saw (a pitsaw) by two...
Image: Amanit Phalloides, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sawpit (plural sawpits)

  1. A pit over which lumber is positioned to be sawn with a long two-handled saw (a pitsaw) by two people, one standing above the timber and the other in the pit below.
    • [V]pon a ſodaine, / As Falſtaffe, ſhe, and I, are newly met, / Let them [children dressed like "urchins, ouphes and fairies"] from forth a ſaw-pit ruſh at once / With ſome diffuſed ſong: Vpon their ſight / We two, in great amazedneſſe will flye: […]c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • 'Twas in a Saw-pit then: yet when the Armies meet (I'l ſay that for him) he will draw up as confidently, as if he would take a General by the Beard; and he will as confidently ride out of the Army before the Battel joyns: and if any man ask him whither he goes, he ſays he is ſent for Orders, ſo you...1672, John Lacy, The Old Troop: Or, Monsieur Raggou. As It was Acted at the Theatre-Royal, London: Printed for William Crook and Thomas Dring, at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar, and at the...

Forms of sawpit

pluralsawpits
alternative formsaw-pit
alternative formsaw pit

Origin of sawpit

From saw + pit.

Words formed from sawpit

Questions about sawpit

What does sawpit mean?
Sawpit means a pit over which lumber is positioned to be sawn with a long two-handled saw (a pitsaw) by two people, one standing above the timber and the other in the pit below.
What part of speech is sawpit?
Sawpit is a noun.
How do you pronounce sawpit?
Sawpit is pronounced /ˈsɔːpɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of sawpit?
The plural of sawpit is sawpits.

Words near sawpit in the dictionary

  1. sawneys
  2. Sawnies
  3. sawnwork
  4. Sawny
  5. sawpalate
  6. sawpit
  7. Sawpit Creek
  8. sawpits
  9. sawqui
  10. Sawrey
  11. Sawreys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sawpit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-sawpit.ogg.

Cite this entry: “sawpit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sawpit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.