sawmill
(ˈsɔːˌmɪl)
[f. saw n.1 + mill n. Cf. Du. zaagmolen, G. sägemühle.]
A factory in which wood is sawn into planks or boards by machinery (formerly propelled by water, wind, or animal power, or steam; now usually by electricity).
| 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 40 Goodly ryuers vpon the which are bylded manye sawe mylles. 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 114 At the descent of the Hills, are infinite of Saw-Mills that go by Water. 1786 Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 12 There are abundance of saw-mills in all the States. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 441 Saw-mills, constructed for the purpose of sawing either timber or stone, are moved by animals, by water, by wind, or by steam. 1886 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 345/1 The modern saw-mill stands upon the banks of a river or pond. |
| attrib. 1654 Suffolk County (Mass.) Deeds (1883) II. 26, I Edward Colcott..doe hereby giue..vnto Thomas Rucke..one third pte of a saw mill worke. 1716 Duxbury (Mass.) Rec. (1893) 113 We began at the waste gate belonging to the saw mill..and run from said gate Easterly as the old saw mill dam stood. 1818 T. G. Fessenden Ladies' Monitor 35 His elbows, hoofs and paws That rip and rend and rive like saw mill-saws. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Sawmill dog, Sawmill gate. 1888 Barrie When a Man's Single ii, The men and women in the saw-mill kitchen. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 197 He was up in the sawmill shed. |
Hence
ˈsawmiller [
cf. Du. zaagmolenaar, G.
sägemüller], the proprietor or manager of a sawmill;
ˈsawmilling, the business of sawing wood in a sawmill.
| 1845 Thoreau Jrnl. 5 July (1949) I. 361, I lodged at the house of a saw-miller last summer. 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 501 All..printers, gunsmiths, sawmillers,..shall pay twenty-five cents on every hundred dollar's worth of gross receipts. 1881 Times 1 July 4/1 The respondent..is a farmer and saw-miller. 1901 J. Black's Carp. & Build., Scaffolding 73 The man who is interested in sawmilling. |