1
as in lurched
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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Recent Examples of seesawed
Gas prices have seesawed in recent days, following news of a fragile ceasefire on April 8.
—
Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
Meanwhile, oil prices seesawed during the early part of Monday's trading session.
—Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 23 Mar. 2026
Oil prices seesawed overnight on fears that Iran will attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, even after an agreement Wednesday among nations to release a significant amount of petroleum reserves.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 12 Mar. 2026
In Miramar, Florida, Philip Myers, a Marine veteran, relied solely on his FreeStyle Libre, until the readings seesawed from the 50s to over 200 one evening in June.
—Elizabeth Chuck, NBC news, 11 Mar. 2026
The way outflow mechanisms seesawed for this black hole suggests a natural mechanism of self-regulation, and that jets and winds compete for the same matter.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 Jan. 2026
But the policy soon seesawed again.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
The attorney general's power has seesawed in recent years.
—Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
Meanwhile, oil prices seesawed during the early part of Monday's trading session.
—Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 23 Mar. 2026
Oil prices seesawed overnight on fears that Iran will attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, even after an agreement Wednesday among nations to release a significant amount of petroleum reserves.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 12 Mar. 2026
In Miramar, Florida, Philip Myers, a Marine veteran, relied solely on his FreeStyle Libre, until the readings seesawed from the 50s to over 200 one evening in June.
—Elizabeth Chuck, NBC news, 11 Mar. 2026
The way outflow mechanisms seesawed for this black hole suggests a natural mechanism of self-regulation, and that jets and winds compete for the same matter.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 Jan. 2026
But the policy soon seesawed again.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
The attorney general's power has seesawed in recent years.
—Molly Beck, jsonline.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seesawed
Verb
-
France lurched from republic to dictatorship to empire before cycling back through absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, Second Republic, and Second Empire.—
Sebastian Smee,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
An indictment filed in federal court in Sacramento on Thursday charges Mendoza Hernandez with one count of assault with a deadly weapon for each time his car lurched forward, incidents the government said were about seven seconds apart.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Dead fish bobbed on the river’s surface as wastewater ran off directly into the Conasauga.—
DYLAN JACKSON,
ABC News,
6 May 2026
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Crews then raced to recover the astronauts aboard the vehicle, which bobbed for a few hours in the Pacific Ocean near California.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The 28-year-old Nakatani, a southpaw, used his longer reach to keep Inoue’s punches at bay, while Inoue simply swayed his body or got out of the way.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 May 2026
-
One key problem with California’s direct democracy is that voters are easily swayed by broad promises, but then lose interest in real-world outcomes.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Ruben Enikolopov, a research professor at the Barcelona School of Economics, explains that at the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin had low government debt and large reserves, and pumped money into the economy via military spending.—
Zahra Ullah,
CNN Money,
2 May 2026
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The two companies pumped almost 9 million barrels of oil a day over the course of the year.—
Bloomberg,
Oc Register,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Haitian immigrants became eligible after an earthquake rocked the country in 2010.—
Tami Luhby,
CNN Money,
28 Apr. 2026
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Zack Bolduc and Cole Caufield, on the power play, had spotted Montreal a 2-0 lead as the Bell Centre absolutely rocked again in the anticipation and hope that perhaps their team might take a 3-1 lead over the favoured Lightning.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Their struggles are why Buster Posey shook things up by calling up Bryce Eldridge and Jesus Rodriguez.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
7 May 2026
-
Eventually, the Thunder shook off the rust from an eight-day break and went up 31-26 at the end of the first quarter, despite 12 points from James.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
5 May 2026
Verb
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The plane jerked to a stop as two trucks passed just feet in front of its nose.—
Alexandra Skores,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2026
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We are jerked between past and present as his backstory gets filled in, one jogged memory at a time.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Seesawed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seesawed. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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