sawbuck

[ saw-buhk ]

/ ˈsɔˌbʌk /

a sawhorse.

Origin of sawbuck

1860–65, Americanism; compare Dutch zaagbok

sawbuck ²

[ saw-buhk ]

/ ˈsɔˌbʌk /

a ten-dollar bill.

1840–50, Americanism; so called from the resemblance of the Roman numeral X to the crossbars of a sawbuck¹

But with this sawbuck one cannot use as heavy logs as with the first one because of the difficulty in handling them.

The Book of Camp-Lore and Woodcraft |Dan Beard
They drove a pack-horse, their supplies loaded on a sawbuck saddle with kyacks.

Oh, You Tex! |William Macleod Raine
The device is in shape much like an old-fashioned “sawbuck,” with the lower rounds between the legs omitted.

Home Pork Making |A. W. Fulton
They were travelers, not cow punchers, for the pack animal carried a sawbuck pack-saddle and a very small pack.

Jack the Young Cowboy |George Bird Grinnell

And she was still sitting as she had fallen when Jim, the Indian, came for the sawbuck.

The Madigans |Miriam Michelson

sawbuck

/ (ˈsɔːˌbʌk) /

US and Canadian a sawhorse, esp one having an X-shaped supporting structure

mainly US and Canadian slang a ten-dollar bill

C19: (in the sense: sawhorse) translated from Dutch zaagbok; (in the sense: ten-dollar bill) from the legs of a sawbuck forming the Roman numeral X