seesaw
Americannoun
-
seesaws
plural
-
a recreation in which two children alternately ride up and down while seated at opposite ends of a plank balanced at the middle.
-
a plank or apparatus for this recreation.
-
an up-and-down or a back-and-forth movement or procedure.
-
Whist. a crossruff.
adjective
verb (used without object)
-
seesaws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
seesawed,
past participle, past
-
seesawing
present participle
-
to move in a seesaw manner.
The boat seesawed in the heavy sea.
-
to ride or play on a seesaw.
-
to keep changing one's decision, opinion, or attitude; vacillate.
verb (used with object)
-
seesaws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
seesawed,
past participle, past
-
seesawing
present participle
noun
-
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
-
the pastime of riding up and down on a seesaw
-
-
an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement
-
( as modifier )
a seesaw movement
-
verb
Regional Use
Although seesaw (def. 2) is the most widely used term in the U.S., teetertotter is also in wide use in the Northern, North Midland, and Western regions. Tilting board and its variants tilt board and tiltering board are New Eng. terms, especially Eastern New Eng., while tinter and its variant teenter are associated with Western New Eng.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
seesawsimple
-
seesawssimple
-
have seesawedperfect
-
has seesawedperfect
-
am seesawingprogressive
-
are seesawingprogressive
-
is seesawingprogressive
-
have been seesawingperfect progressive
-
has been seesawingperfect progressive
Past
-
seesawedsimple
-
had seesawedperfect
-
was seesawingprogressive
-
were seesawingprogressive
-
had been seesawingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of seesaw
1630–40 as part of a jingle accompanying a children's game; gradational compound based on saw 1
Explanation
A seesaw is a piece of playground equipment made of a board balanced on a center support. To play on a seesaw, you sit on one end with a friend on the other end, moving up and down. You might also call a seesaw a teeter-totter — they are common in parks and on school playgrounds. When you sit on a seesaw, with your friend on the opposite side, each of you takes turns pushing up off the ground. When you go up into the air, your friend touches the ground, and when your friend goes up, you go down. Seesaw comes from the French ci-ça, or "this-that."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On markets: The market is behaving like a seesaw, with AI stocks on one side and everything else on the other, writes Joseph Adinolfi.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
The past few days of Pike’s life were marked by a seesaw of court decisions as her lawyers tried every angle to save her life.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2026
She ultimately took a later flight, but that didn’t put a stop to their emotional seesaw.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
He compared his job to being on a seesaw: if he stepped down, his co-workers would struggle to keep going.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
But when the seesaw of good fortune sinks downward for one person, it is very often on its way up for someone else.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
At the bottom, few public playgrounds these days feature seesaws or monkey bars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Bonds operate like seesaws: When the interest rate, or yield, falls, the price rises.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
The show "seesaws between thrilling and annoying", according to USA Today's Kelly Lawler, while the Atlantic's Sophie Gilbert described most of it as "largely joyless and grim".
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025
His performance as Seth Milchick in Season 2 of “Severance” showcases his range, as his character seesaws from a cheery to chilling middle manager.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025
He hated to see the swings, slides, monkey bars, and seesaws empty and tried to get kids to stick around as long as possible.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
Over the past few weeks, the yen has seesawed as markets increasingly price in the possibility of faster interest-rate hikes by the Bank of Japan to combat persistent inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Japan's debts are more than twice the size of the entire economy, and in recent weeks yields on long-dated bonds have hit record highs while the yen has seesawed.
From Barron's ● Feb. 7, 2026
Meanwhile, Chewy’s stock seesawed to a decline of 0.3% in recent afternoon trading.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 10, 2025
At other times, the 26-year-old charged with murdering the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare seesawed between pain and numbness in his lower back and genital area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2024
The battles seesawed back and forth, favoring first one side then the other, while neither side achieved a decisive victory and the casualties mounted.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
After seesawing results for almost 24 hours, Caruso conceded the race to Bass on Wednesday night.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
In the meantime, the legal seesawing has sown uncertainty over the pill that the US Food and Drug Administration approved more than a quarter-century ago.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
For farmers, the seesawing prices have presented a double whammy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
A bit of seesawing is likely in the short term.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
The fulcrum of fortune has a way of seesawing from one condition to its opposite with no warning, like a sudden squall on an otherwise balmy day.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
