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

The strength and stability of the world’s fifth-largest economy, meanwhile, makes it an attractive innovation and investment partner while the federal government seesaws chaotically.

From Los Angeles Times

That seesawing piano riff on the soundtrack could be rain droplets or an improvisatory theme for a couple lolling around an open-air market trying on sunglasses.

From Los Angeles Times

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

It’s a strange, seesawing time for labor rights and union power.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fluctuate
• teeter
• vacillate
• waver