double sawbuck

noun

Twenty dollars; a twenty-dollar bill.

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Meanings

noundouble sawbuck (plural double sawbucks)

plural double sawbucks

  1. USslangTwenty dollars; a twenty-dollar bill.

    I got five double sawbucks out of my wallet and dropped them in front of him.

    1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 14
    1 more example

    It's crazy, a stud like you paying that dame that you told me about, double sawbucks.

    1969, Waldo Salt, Midnight Cowboy, spoken by Ratso (Dustin Hoffman)
  2. USslangA twenty-year prison sentence.

Origin

The number 20 is written XX in Roman numerals; this resembles two of the sawbucks used for cutting wood.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

double sawbuck. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20sawbuck

MLA

“double sawbuck.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20sawbuck. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “double sawbuck,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double%20sawbuck.

Source: double sawbuck on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.