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.

---

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

---

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

Example Sentences

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

The opening “Waiting Around” is a solid distillation of his strengths, with attractive seesaw chords and a melody that lingers slightly behind the beat, conveying the uncertainty and contemplation of the lyrics.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bonds are like seesaws: The yield falls when the price rises.

From MarketWatch

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

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

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fluctuate
• teeter
• vacillate
• waver