seesaw

B2 Topic:Space, Position & Direction

Also spelled see-saw

US /ˈsi.sɔ/ UK /ˈsiː.sɔː/ See IPA manual

Freq #38257

Meanings

1

noun
a long board balanced in the middle that children sit on at each end to go up and down

The children laughed as they played on the seesaw.
2

verb
to keep changing back and forth between two states or levels

Stock prices seesawed all afternoon.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a long board balanced in... teeter-totterteeter

Word family

Forms seesaws

Derived forms seesawlikeseesawy

Etymology

Probably a frequentative imitative of rhythmic back-and-forth, up-and-down or zigzagging motion, such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc., under the umbrella term of reduplication; also likely influenced by the verbs see and saw of either present or past tense.

Topics

Space, Position & Direction

External links

# seesaw

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈsi.sɔ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsiː.sɔː/
**Frequency rank:** 38257

## Meanings
1. a long board balanced in the middle that children sit on at each end to go up and down
2. to keep changing back and forth between two states or levels

## Examples
- The children laughed as they played on the seesaw.
- Stock prices seesawed all afternoon.

## Derived Forms
- seesawlike
- seesawy

## Etymology
Probably a frequentative imitative of rhythmic back-and-forth, up-and-down or zigzagging motion, such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc., under the umbrella term of reduplication; also likely influenced by the verbs see and saw of either present or past tense.

## AI Etymology
Seesaw is probably a frequentative imitative of rhythmic back-and-forth, up-and-down or zigzagging motion, such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc., under the umbrella term of reduplication; also likely influenced by the verbs see and saw of either present or past tense. In current use it includes senses such as a long board balanced in the middle that children sit on at each end to go up and down and to keep changing back and forth between two states or levels.

## Topics
- Space, Position & Direction

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