seesaw

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A series of alternating movements or feelings.

   He has been arguing in a circle; there is thus a see-saw between the hypothesis and the fact.

2. 2
   verb

   To fluctuate.

   When I think of your kisses / My mind see-saws

3. 3
   verb

   To cause to move backward and forward in a seesaw fashion.

   He see-saws himself to and fro.

4. 4
   noun

   a plaything consisting of a board balanced on a fulcrum

5. 5
   verb

   move unsteadily, with a rocking motion

6. 6
   verb

   move up and down as if on a seesaw

7. 7
   verb

   ride on a plank

8. 8
   noun

   A structure composed of a plank, balanced in the middle, used as a game in which one person goes up as the other goes down.

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.