[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/seesaw.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / seesaw

[← S](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/S/)

# seesaw

«seesaw» in Mova's school dictionary: **A long board balanced in the middle on which two children…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a seesaw, seesaws); verb (seesaw, seesaws, seesawed, seesawing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A long board balanced in the middle on which two children sit at opposite ends and go up and down. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#m1)

2) (verb) To move up and down or back and forth again and again, or to keep changing between two states. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In playground life it is a favourite toy (in the USA also called a teeter-totter). In science and maths it shows balance and levers: a heavier child must sit nearer the middle. In stories, feelings or a score can seesaw. Phrases: on the seesaw, seesawing prices.

### examples

- We went up and down on the seesaw at the park. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#x1)
- Dad is heavier, so he sat nearer the middle of the seesaw to balance it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#x2)
- A seesaw is a kind of lever. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#x3)
- The score seesawed all game until the last goal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#x4)
- My mood seesawed between happy and nervous before the concert. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#x5)
- Hold on tight on the seesaw and don't jump off suddenly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/#x6)

### note

Also written see-saw. Americans also say teeter-totter. In lever problems, weight times distance from the middle must match on both sides for it to balance.

### In the corpora

- [On a seesaw, a heavy person near the middle can balance a light person far from the middle.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity/13/)
- [Seesaws, scissors, wheelbarrows, bottle openers, nutcrackers, tongs and even your own arm are all levers.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/33-levers-lifting-heavy-things-with-a-little-push/4/)
- [A seesaw balances when the heavier person sits closer in: someone twice as heavy balances at half the distance from the middle.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/42-olympiad-forces-floating-and-machines/8/)
- [A tower crane works like a seesaw.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/technology/28-diggers-cranes-and-cement-mixers/5/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «seesaw» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seesaw/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.