seesaw Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a plaything consisting of a board balanced on a fulcrum; the board is ridden up and down by children at either end
    tilting board; teeter; teeter-totter; teetertotter; dandle board; teeterboard.
  2. verb ride on a plank
    teeter-totter; teetertotter.
  3. verb move up and down as if on a seesaw
  4. verb move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
    totter; teeter.

WordNet

See"saw` noun
Etymology
Probably a reduplication of saw, to express the alternate motion to and fro, as in the act of sawing.
Definitions
  1. A play among children in which they are seated upon the opposite ends of a plank which is balanced in the middle, and move alternately up and down.
  2. A plank or board adjusted for this play.
  3. A vibratory or reciprocating motion.
    He has been arguing in a circle; there is thus a seesaw between the hypothesis and fact. Sir W. Hamilton.
  4. (Whist.) Same as Crossruff.
See"saw` intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Seesawad ; present participle & verbal noun Seesawing
Definitions
  1. To move with a reciprocating motion; to move backward and forward, or upward and downward.
See"saw` transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause to move backward and forward in seesaw fashion.
    He seesaws himself to and fro. Ld. Lytton.
See"saw` adjective
Definitions
  1. Moving up and down, or to and fro; having a reciprocating motion.

Webster 1913