The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sawbuck \Saw"buck`\, n.
A sawhorse.
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[Colloq., from the Roman X for ten, like the support of a sawbuck.] a ten-dollar bill; also,
double sawbuck, a twenty-dollar bill.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context US slang English) twenty dollars; a twenty-dollar bill. 2 (context US slang English) A twenty-year prison sentence.
Usage examples of "double sawbuck".
Doc Webster took a double sawbuck's worth, and even Fast Eddie produced a tattered single.
It helped that he had heard of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin and that I slipped him a double sawbuck.
To see a nekkid broad, that's why-and a chance to be paid a double sawbuck for lookin'-when maybe they got one just as good or better at home, nekkid anytime they like.
There's a double sawbuck in it for anybody who can give me some interesting lowdown on this Marcella Harris dame who got croaked last weekend.
Also I appreciate your thoughtful enclosure of a double sawbuck, an excellent attention-getting device that I heartily commend to this column's loyal readers.
A double sawbuck certainly would have put a big hole in our monthly grocery budget back then, but that business about feeding a family for years was maybe a bit of an exaggeration.