1 N‑COUNT A saving is a reduction in the amount of time or money that is used or needed. □ [+ of ] Fill in the form below and you will be making a saving of £6.60 on a one-year subscription.
2 N‑PLURAL Your savings are the money that you have saved, especially in a bank or a building society. □ Her savings were in the Post Office Savings Bank.
sa v|ing gra ce (saving graces ) N‑COUNT A saving grace is a good quality or feature in a person or thing that prevents them from being completely bad or worthless. □ Ageing's one saving grace is you worry less about what people think.
sa v|ings and loa n also savings and loans N‑SING [usu N n] A savings and loan association is a business where people save money to earn interest, and which lends money to savers to buy houses. Compare building society . [mainly AM , BUSINESS ]
sav|iour /se I vjə r / (saviours ) in AM, use savior N‑COUNT A saviour is a person who saves someone or something from danger, ruin, or defeat. □ [+ of ] …the saviour of his country.
savoir-faire /sæ vwɑː r feə r / N‑UNCOUNT Savoir-faire is the confidence and ability to do the appropriate thing in a social situation. [FORMAL ] □ He was full of jocularity and savoir-faire.
sa|vour /se I və r / (savours , savouring , savoured ) in AM, use savor 1 VERB If you savour an experience, you enjoy it as much as you can. □ [V n] She savored her newfound freedom.
2 VERB If you savour food or drink, you eat or drink it slowly in order to taste its full flavour and to enjoy it properly. □ [V n] Savour the flavour of each mouthful, and chew your food well.
sa|voury /se I vəri/ (savouries ) in AM, use savory 1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Savoury food has a salty or spicy flavour rather than a sweet one. □ Italian cooking is best known for savoury dishes.
2 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Savouries are small items of savoury food that are usually eaten as a snack, for example with alcoholic drinks at a party or before a meal. [BRIT ]
sav|vy /sæ vi/ N‑UNCOUNT If you describe someone as having savvy , you think that they have a good understanding and practical knowledge of something. [INFORMAL ] □ He is known for his political savvy and strong management skills.
saw /sɔː / (saws , sawing , sawed , sawn )
1 Saw is the past tense of see .
2 N‑COUNT A saw is a tool for cutting wood, which has a blade with sharp teeth along one edge. Some saws are pushed backwards and forwards by hand, and others are powered by electricity.
3 → see also chain saw
4 VERB If you saw something, you cut it with a saw. □ [V prep/adv] He escaped by sawing through the bars of his cell. □ [V n] Your father is sawing wood.
saw|dust /sɔː dʌst/ N‑UNCOUNT Sawdust is dust and very small pieces of wood which are produced when you saw wood. □ …a layer of sawdust.
sa wed-off sho t|gun (sawed-off shotguns ) N‑COUNT A sawed-off shotgun is the same as a sawn-off shotgun . [AM ]
saw|mill /sɔː m I l/ (sawmills ) N‑COUNT A sawmill is a factory in which wood from trees is sawn into long flat pieces.
sawn /sɔː n/ Sawn is the past participle of saw .
sa wn-off sho t|gun (sawn-off shotguns ) N‑COUNT A sawn-off shotgun is a shotgun on which the barrel has been cut short. Guns like this are often used by criminals because they can be easily hidden. [BRIT ] □ The men burst in wearing balaclavas and brandishing sawn-off shotguns. in AM, use sawed-off shotgun
sax /sæ ks/ (saxes ) N‑COUNT A sax is the same as a saxophone . [INFORMAL ]
Sax|on /sæ ks ə n/ (Saxons )
1 N‑COUNT In former times, Saxons were members of a West Germanic tribe. Some members of this tribe settled in Britain and were known as Anglo-Saxons .
2 ADJ Something that is Saxon is related to or characteristic of the ancient Saxons, the Anglo-Saxons, or their descendants. □ …a seventh-century Saxon church.
saxo|phone /sæ ksəfoʊn/ (saxophones ) N‑VAR A saxophone is a musical instrument in the shape of a curved metal tube with a narrower part that you blow into and keys that you press.
sax|opho|nist /sæksɒ fən I st, [AM ] sæ ksəfoʊn-/ (saxophonists ) N‑COUNT A saxophonist is someone who plays the saxophone.
say ◆◆◆ /se I / (says /se z/, saying , said /se d/)
1 VERB When you say something, you speak words. □ [V with quote] 'I'm sorry,' he said. □ [V that] She said they were very impressed. □ [be V -ed to-inf] Forty-one people are said to have been seriously hurt. □ [V n + to ] I packed and said goodbye to Charlie. □ [V n] I hope you didn't say anything about Gretchen. □ [V wh] Did he say where he was going? □ [V so ] It doesn't sound exactly orthodox, if I may say so. [Also V to-inf]
2 VERB You use say in expressions such as I would just like to say to introduce what you are actually saying, or to indicate that you are expressing an opinion or admitting a fact. If you state that you can't say something or you wouldn't say something, you are indicating in a polite or indirect way that it is not the case. □ [V that] I would just like to say that this is the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard in my life. □ [V that] I must say that rather shocked me, too. □ [V that] Dead? Well, I can't say I'm sorry.