seesaw

[ see-saw ]

noun

1. a recreation in which two children alternately ride up and down while seated at opposite ends of a plank balanced at the middle.
2. a plank or apparatus for this recreation.
3. an up-and-down or a back-and-forth movement or procedure.
4. Whist. a crossruff.

adjective

1. moving up and down, back and forth, or alternately ahead and behind:

   It was a seesaw game with the lead changing hands many times.

verb (used without object)

1. to move in a seesaw manner:

   The boat seesawed in the heavy sea.

2. to ride or play on a seesaw.
3. to keep changing one's decision, opinion, or attitude; vacillate.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to move in a seesaw manner.

seesaw

/ ˈsiːˌsɔː /

noun

1. a plank balanced in the middle so that two people seated on the ends can ride up and down by pushing on the ground with their feet
2. the pastime of riding up and down on a seesaw
3. 1. an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement
   2. ( as modifier )

      a seesaw movement

verb

1. intr to move up and down or back and forth in such a manner; oscillate

Word History and Origins

Origin of seesaw¹

1630–40 as part of a jingle accompanying a children's game; gradational compound based on saw ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of seesaw¹

C17: reduplication of saw ¹, alluding to the movement from side to side, as in sawing

Example Sentences

Night Games will be home to academic experiments — “Sync.Live” — as well as games that ask us to converse and work together via a seesaw, such as the pirate-themed “Back Off Me Booty.”

From Los Angeles Times

Twenty years ago, that pattern of protocol was interrupted by then-Vice President Al Gore after his race against Texas Gov. George W. Bush came down to an election-night seesaw in Florida.

From Los Angeles Times

At one point when the submersible was being pulled back onto the ship, she described a "seesaw" effect where the sub was supposed to be gently placed on the ship, but the crew let it go and it fell.

From BBC

The federal interest in cities was already dead by the time Joe Biden entered the Senate; it is the seesaw of disinvestment and private capital, not overpowering government intervention, that has determined the shape of the urban landscape since.

From Slate

Kids played on swings, a seesaw and even a small climbing wall.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fluctuate
• teeter
• vacillate
• waver