1
as in swaying
to make a series of unsteady side-to-side motions
as their boat seesawed in the rough water, the rescue team tried to get the passengers off the sinking ship
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of seesawing
The clearest example of the two companies’ seesawing outlooks is in performance running.
—
Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 29 Apr. 2026
This includes soaring gas prices at the pump, seesawing stock markets, rising food and fertilizer prices, higher shipping-insurance costs, and fuel shortages that have touched off violence, work stoppages, and profiteering in parts of Asia and Africa.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2026
Armchair investors have endured several stomach-churning days in March, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones averages seesawing in response to the Iran war, surging gas prices and inflation fears.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026
The back-and-forth sent oil prices and stock markets seesawing.
—Samy Magdy, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
The seesawing decisions by Jones Dickson came during a hearing Monday, when Tran’s trial was expected to get underway with his case being assigned a trial judge.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2026
Jim Cramer warns investors to stay the path and avoid seesawing between the wrong narratives about the Federal Reserve needing to lower interest rates to avoid a recession.
—Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
Sara Germano, Sportico.com, 29 Apr. 2026
This includes soaring gas prices at the pump, seesawing stock markets, rising food and fertilizer prices, higher shipping-insurance costs, and fuel shortages that have touched off violence, work stoppages, and profiteering in parts of Asia and Africa.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2026
Armchair investors have endured several stomach-churning days in March, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones averages seesawing in response to the Iran war, surging gas prices and inflation fears.
—Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026
The back-and-forth sent oil prices and stock markets seesawing.
—Samy Magdy, Chicago Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
The seesawing decisions by Jones Dickson came during a hearing Monday, when Tran’s trial was expected to get underway with his case being assigned a trial judge.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2026
Jim Cramer warns investors to stay the path and avoid seesawing between the wrong narratives about the Federal Reserve needing to lower interest rates to avoid a recession.
—Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seesawing
Verb
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Many in Sacramento are skeptical that Brin and his fellow ultra-rich will succeed in swaying California state politics.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Apr. 2026
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The mailbox, which surprisingly pops up from a landscape of sugar-white sand and sea oats swaying in the wind, creates a scene straight from a movie.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Naval mines bobbing in the waters of the Persian Gulf, threatening oil tankers.—
Jon Gambrell,
Fortune,
24 Apr. 2026
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Here on the shore, overlooking the lighthouse and the harbor’s bobbing boats, partners Claire Hanrahan and Andrew Ainslie’s restaurant is the epitome of laidback chic with its country-kitchen interiors and butter yellow frontage.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Another neighbor recalled an elevator lurching between floors.—
Elle McLogan,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
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Meanwhile the Caliente Range — those mountains just to the west — are lurching the opposite way.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The painting, which shows Trump famously pumping his fist after surviving gunfire at a campaign rally, was installed in the White House State Floor in April 2025.—
Kathryn Palmer,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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Ragans was pumping high velocity.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Cinemas nationwide will soon be rocking to the story of one of music’s greatest talents.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
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Tales From ’85 indicates very little interest in rocking the Stranger Things boat, narratively or tonally or any other-ly.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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On Thursday night, after shaking off a deal that was short-circuited by another team, the Ravens would make a pick (Penn State guard Vega Ioane) that symbolically spoke to the franchise’s core values.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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Backstage, everyone was crying and shaking, Pearlman says.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Seesawing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seesawing. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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