Street
sawbuck
What does sawbuck mean?
A sawbuck is a ten-dollar bill; a 'double sawbuck' is twenty dollars. Named for the X-shaped sawhorse resembling the Roman numeral ten.
"The tip was a sawbuck folded around a matchbook."
Origin
American slang, 19th century; from the X-shaped sawbuck resembling 'X' (10).
Frequently asked questions
What is a 'sawbuck'?
It's slang for a ten-dollar bill. A 'double sawbuck' means twenty dollars.
Why is a ten-dollar bill called a 'sawbuck'?
Because the X-shaped legs of a sawbuck sawhorse resemble the Roman numeral X, meaning ten.
When was 'sawbuck' used?
It's 19th-century American slang and still appears in older crime and gambling fiction.
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