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
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Each assault count corresponds to a moment Mendoza Hernandez’s car lurched forward, about seven seconds apart.—
Scott Lebar. Story produced with AI assistance,
Sacbee.com,
7 May 2026
-
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
Verb
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Jordan—who seemed more fish than girl, her bobbed blonde hair tinted green as old pennies—walked with a confidence that Ana wished for her own daughter.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
-
Dead fish bobbed on the river’s surface as wastewater ran off directly into the Conasauga.—
DYLAN JACKSON,
ABC News,
6 May 2026
Verb
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Ultimately, the bond market is sending a message about the economy, and it isn’t swayed by trendy narratives, Malek said.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
9 May 2026
-
Trump condemned Roberts and the five other justices who ruled against him on tariffs and made an unsubstantiated claim that the court was swayed by foreign interests.—
Andrew Chung,
USA Today,
7 May 2026
Verb
-
Democrats pumped significant resources into the referendum vote.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
8 May 2026
-
These liquids are pumped into a central unit, where a chemical reaction generates electricity.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
6 May 2026
Verb
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The judiciary said Shahbakhsh carried out his attacks during protests that rocked Iran in 2022 and 2023 following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian Kurdish woman.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
12 May 2026
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The cruise ship rocked by an unprecedented Andes hantavirus outbreak arrived in the Canary Islands off the coast of Tenerife Island over the weekend and is being evacuated.—
Beth Mole,
ArsTechnica,
11 May 2026
Verb
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Her plea will spare a lengthy discovery period and likely mark the legal denouement of a federal probe that shook Sacramento after the FBI recorded dozens of lobbyists in the summer of 2024 as part of the investigation.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
14 May 2026
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The writer-director sets her sophomore feature barely two years after the country shook off the despot’s iron grip.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
14 May 2026
Verb
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John jerked Maggie back by the elbow and stopped her from stepping into the street.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 May 2026
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My empty paper bowl jerked along the belt, stopping under each funnel.—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Seesawed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seesawed. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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