sawed off

saw off

To use a saw to sever something (from something else). A noun or pronoun can be used between "saw" and "off." I had to saw off the lower limbs of the tree to keep my young kids from climbing it. The doctors had to saw the patient's gangrenous arm off.
See also: off, saw

sawed off

slang Very disgruntled, angry, or outraged. Sometimes hyphenated. John was pretty sawed off when he found out that someone else had been given the promotion instead of him. There's no point in getting sawed-off over a bad grade on your exam. Just study harder next time!
See also: off, saw
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

sawed-off

mod. short of stature. Tom called Mike a sawed-off little runt.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • base off (of) (something else)
  • check off
  • bite off
  • blow off
  • blow someone/something off
  • blow off the map
  • brass off
  • brass someone off
  • brassed off
  • call off
References in periodicals archive
I suspect that the jail guards on duty have fallen asleep while the steel grills were being sawed off, Paitao said of the 3:15 a.m.
8 inmates bolt out of Lanao del Norte provincial jail
BUELLTON, California, Jumada II 4, 1433, Apr 25, 2012, SPA -- Authorities in California say someone sawed off the paws of a mountain lion as apparent souvenirs after it was struck and killed by a car, according to AP.
Cougar's paws sawed off after struck by car in US
Several times, the title character escapes from jams that would, in the real world, more likely have ended with her having her head sawed off after delivering a horrifying, tearful plea for her fife on videotape.
Bridget Jones, super spy: Chick Lit goes to war
Flat surfaces where the stump's roots and limbs were sawed off are made into atmospheric color fields that suggest the solid stump is a kind of vessel surrounding a Rothkoesque void.
Anna Sew Hoy: Peres Projects
DISGUSTED race fans watched in horror as a vet sawed off a horse's leg after a fall.
BUTCHERED AT RACES; Punters see horse's leg hacked off
Most hedge trees have limbs hanging low to the ground that have to be sawed off first.
The ornery Osage orange