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

On the other side of that seesaw expectantly sits his daughter’s faith in him.

Read more on Salon

His performance as Seth Milchick in Season 2 of “Severance” showcases his range, as his character seesaws from a cheery to chilling middle manager.

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To the 73 million Americans whose financial lives depend on the viability of Social Security, those first months were a seesaw of apprehension and rumor.

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They have looked on the tempests of war, economic turmoil, civil unrest and seesawing politics and remained, as Shakespeare said, an ever-fixed mark, adapting to atmospheric shifts but essentially unchanged.

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Part of this is the sluggishly incremental nature of Laughton’s writing that filters everything through seesaw dialogue.

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Related Words

• fluctuate 
• teeter 
• vacillate 
• waver