sax
sax Lexical Profile
sax Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An informal shortening of saxophone, a single-reed woodwind musical instrument typically made of brass and widely used in jazz, military bands, and popular music.
"He played a smooth solo on the tenor sax that captivated everyone in the jazz club."
A musician who plays the saxophone, especially as a member of an ensemble or orchestra.
"The band is auditioning for a new lead sax before their summer tour begins."
A heavy, chopper-like hand tool with a pointed spike on the back of the blade, used by roofers for trimming and punching nail holes in roofing slates.
"The roofer used a traditional sax to trim the edges of the heavy Welsh slates."
A short, single-edged sword or large dagger used historically by ancient Germanic peoples, notably the Anglo-Saxons.
"Archaeologists uncovered an iron sax buried alongside a sixth-century warrior."
• verb
To cut, trim, and punch nail holes in roofing slates using a slater's sax.
"The apprentice spent the morning learning how to sax the slates without cracking them."
• Rhymes for sax
Word Origin & Etymology
In its musical sense, the word is a clipping of 'saxophone', named after the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax (1814–1894). In its sense as a slater's cutting tool or historical dagger, it derives from Old English 'seax' (meaning 'knife' or 'short sword'), which also gave rise to the ethnonym 'Saxon'.