From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsaw something ↔ off phrasal verbCUTto remove something by cutting it off with a saw We sawed off the dead branches. → saw→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
saw off• Coronado, who thought him to be out of his mind, reluctantly saw the men off.• When Harriet once again saw her daughter off at Penzance station it was this time with a sense of relief.• Do not simply saw the trunk off at soil level as this will later attract honey fungus.• They saw her off into the splashed black and rainy yellow night.• Glancing sideways, he saw Collymore veer off, roll and gracefully arch like a porpoise, and go down again.• When I saw Neil heading off the first tee, bag on shoulder, I was relieved.• Dexter looked back and saw Russell drain off the last drops of his lager.• And then they saw him getting off the streetcar and raced to meet him. 