seesaw
Americannoun
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seesaws
plural
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a recreation in which two children alternately ride up and down while seated at opposite ends of a plank balanced at the middle.
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a plank or apparatus for this recreation.
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an up-and-down or a back-and-forth movement or procedure.
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Whist. a crossruff.
adjective
verb (used without object)
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seesaws,
present (3rd person singular)
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seesawed,
past participle, past
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seesawing
present participle
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to move in a seesaw manner.
The boat seesawed in the heavy sea.
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to ride or play on a seesaw.
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to keep changing one's decision, opinion, or attitude; vacillate.
verb (used with object)
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seesaws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
seesawed,
past participle, past
-
seesawing
present participle
noun
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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
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the pastime of riding up and down on a seesaw
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an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement
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( as modifier )
a seesaw movement
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verb
Regionalisms
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
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seesawsimple
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seesawssimple
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have seesawedperfect
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has seesawedperfect
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am seesawingprogressive
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are seesawingprogressive
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is seesawingprogressive
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have been seesawingperfect progressive
-
has been seesawingperfect progressive
Past
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seesawedsimple
-
had seesawedperfect
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was seesawingprogressive
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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:
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
Recalling how Jang compared his work to riding a seesaw, where he held down one end, she says she sees it differently now.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
But two external shifts further tipped the seesaw.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Like a seesaw, the triangle of the roof keeps it balanced, straight.
From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Bonds are like seesaws: When the price rises, the interest rate falls, and vice versa.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
The music seesaws brilliantly between Blanche’s dreaming arias, when time seems to stop, and her impoverished reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
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
Of course, trebuchets differed from seesaws in a few ways.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
During recess the boys would divide in two groups, chasing each other wildly around the swings and seesaws, Redcoats against the colonies.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Gold prices hit a three-month low of $3,990 in late June, and have since seesawed with Middle East peace talks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 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 fickle Fulcrum of Fortune had seesawed back again, this time with Penelope on the upward-bound seat.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
The yearly rate of inflation has shown a similar seesawing pattern.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
After months of seesawing growth and contraction, the US job market posted strong gains in the last three months -- but Thursday's data revised some of those numbers down.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
A deleted tweet by the energy secretary sent oil markets seesawing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
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.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2025
Then we were scrambling to the hatch and sprinting down and down the endless seesawing staircase, hopeless that we could reach the cage before it sank but hysterical to try to anyway.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions 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.
