seesaw

American  

[see-saw] / ˈsiˌsɔ /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

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

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.

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

All this during a rather seesaw start of the year for Netflix investors.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

Now the seesaw is going in the other direction.

From Barron's • Mar. 10, 2026

They are integral parts of a dynamic structural system—their weight of stone pushing the walls outward while the flying buttresses outside push them inward—the two forces exactly matching, like a perfectly balanced seesaw.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 3, 2025

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

From Salon • Sep. 23, 2025

Mr. Frederick made a seesaw motion with his hand as if to say “so-so.”

From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• fluctuate
• teeter
• vacillate
• waver