seesawed

verb

past tense of seesaw
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in bobbed
to make short up-and-down movements the price of the stock has been seesawing all week

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of seesawed Oil prices and global stocks seesawed Monday as fighting in Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz closed, sending Brent crude above $112 a barrel before retreating on signs that a wider military strike might pause. — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seesawed
  1. lurched
  2. bobbed
  3. swayed
  4. pumped
  5. rocked
  6. shook
  7. jerked
Verb
  • The airplane lurched skyward, and Elwood was strapped in for the ride.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Markets have lurched up and down as oil prices shot higher because of the war with Iran.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of lurched
Verb
  • My Lady Clam bobbed in the water, which didn’t look so turbulent from where Kath sat.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026
  • One afternoon as a rookie, listening to coaches drone on in a dark room with film cutups flashing in front of them, his head bobbed.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 24 July 2026
Definition of bobbed
Verb
  • With the challenges of supply chains and higher prices on retailers’ hands, shoppers are highly attuned to these considerations and can be swayed by retailers who demonstrate their ability to deliver on time and as promised.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Throughout the performances, River had her arm around Remy as the siblings swayed, clapped and whooped for their mom.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of swayed
Verb
  • Emergency workers have pumped air and dropped food into one tunnel but have yet to establish communication with anyone inside.
    — Bhadra Sharma, CNN Money, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Recycled water is pumped into wells about 2,200 feet below the surface into underground salt deposits.
    — Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of pumped
Verb
  • Earlier this year, Iran was rocked by widespread anti-government protests.
    — Mick Krever, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
  • North Carolina was rocked in head coach Bill Belichick's first game at the helm.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of rocked
Verb
  • The offence that shook baseball in October appeared again, leading the Jays to their second-largest margin of victory this year in an 11-0 win against the Cleveland Guardians.
    — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Several heavy explosions shook Kuhestak, with fireballs that lighted up the night sky, according to security camera recordings carried by the semiofficial news agency Fars.
    — David Rising, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of shook
Verb
  • But in 1933, within a matter of days, they were jerked back into reality.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Once the squid gather near the surface, lines fitted with bait are lowered into the water and rapidly jerked up and down to imitate small prey such as shrimp, triggering strikes before the catch is reeled aboard.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 20 June 2026
Definition of jerked

Browse Nearby Words

seesaw
seesawed
seesawing
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Cite this Entry

“Seesawed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seesawed. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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