it is his task to saw out one long-drawn and lugubrious note

[sami33]

Hi everybody!

I wonder whether or not "see out" in the context has this meaning:come to the end of a period of time or undertaking.(From WR)

He is playing a bass part upon his cello, and so the excitement is nothing to him; no matter what happens in the treble, it is his task to saw out one long-drawn and lugubrious note after another, from four o'clock in the afternoon until nearly the same hour next morning, for his third of the total income of one dollar per hour.

Source: The jungle by Upton Sinclair- chapter 01

Thanks

 

[lucas-sp]

No, the verb here is "to saw," like the tool (a saw). The motion of "sawing" is similar to that of drawing a bow back and forth across a string instrument. The "out" is used a lot in English to emphasize production.

Note that the cello is a lower-registered instrument, it plays in the bass (versus the treble, which would be a violin or a singer or the like).

 

[Beryl from Northallerton]

I agree with Lucas

 

[sami33]

Thank you very much lucas-sp and Beryl.
I should have noticed the "to" indicating that "saw" is an infinitif.

 

[sami33]

Thank you very much lucas-sp and Beryl.
I should have noticed the "to" indicating that "saw" is an infinitive.