see-saw

Noun

seesaw (plural seesaws)

1. 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.

   Synonyms:

   teeter-totter

2. The game or pastime of seesawing.
   • Now Jill did laugh
     And Jack did cry,
     But his tears did soon abate,
     Then Jill did say,
     That they should play,
     At sea-saw across the gate.1810, Jack and Jill, and old Dame Gill, York: J. Kendrew, page 8
3. (figuratively) A series of up-and-down movements.
4. (figuratively) 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.a. 1857, William Hamilton, edited by H[enry] L[ongueville] Mansel and John Veitch, Lectures on Metaphysics and Logic […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood...
5. (attributive) An abnormal breathing pattern caused by airway obstruction, characterized by paradoxical chest and abdominal movement.
6. A tactic in which a piece repeatedly gains material, while simultaneously creating an inescapable series of alternating direct and discovered checks.

   Synonyms:

   windmill, Zwickmühle

See all 10 meanings of seesaw