What is a sawbuck?

Answer 1

"Sawbuck" is both a carpentry tool and a slang term for a $10 bill.

There's nothing on a modern $10 bill that would lead to that nickname so it's no longer commonly used. In fact, most people use it with no idea where it orignated! In fact it dates back to the 19th century when various $10 bill designs included a prominent letter X which is the Roman numeral for 10. The Xs tended to look like an end-on view of a sawbuck - the carpenter's brace that's used to support wood for sawing - and the name stuck.

It's a bit like the term "two bits" for a quarter. That's a relic of the early days of American coinage when Spanish 8-reales coins were also in use alongside dollars. Each eighth was called a "bit", so a quarter was "two bits".

Answer 2

A sawbuck is a framework for holding wood so it can be sawed - also known as a sawhorse.

Sawbuck is also a slang term for a 10 US dollar bill, based on the fact that the Roman numeral X, which used to adorn some ten dollar bills, looks like the cross on a sawbuck framework.

Answer 3

A sawbuck is a type of frame or stand used to support wood for cutting, typically by sawing. It usually consists of two pairs of X-shaped legs with a horizontal beam or piece for holding the wood in place.

Answer 4

$20 bill