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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Recent Examples of seesawing
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
Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for seesawing
Verb
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Unlock The Mystery Surrounding A Lone Mailbox Sticking out like a sore thumb along gently swaying sea oats and majestic sand dunes, the Wrightsville Beach Mailbox is a legendary character in this part of North Carolina.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
26 Feb. 2026
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While many of the notable Art Deco buildings that give the area its charm were constructed in the 1930s, Miami Beach had a second heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, when TV stars including Jackie Gleason helped draw tourists to the town with the backdrop of swaying palm trees and a tropical moon.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Picture a waterfront bustling with bobbing fishing boats and the air tinged with the scent of fresh seafood, as San Hing Praya Street and Pak She Praya Road dish out alfresco dining scenes straight out of a sunset lover's dream.—
Condé Nast Traveler,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Feb. 2026
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And many of them were side-stepping and bobbing along to a set by DJ Mace, who was also busting moves nonstop, even when the cameras weren't on him.—
Pien Huang,
NPR,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The two sides have been lurching toward this end for a while now.—
Josh Kendall,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
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Brant, who was elected in a special election in August, inherited an office already in disarray, in a county that has spent the past year lurching from one government crisis to the next.—
Nick El Hajj,
Des Moines Register,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Across the calm waters behind a pumping station near Lake Borgne, hundreds of saplings stand out in the mist, wrapped in white plastic cylinders.—
Melina Walling,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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A couple of people pulled out knives and slipped over to puncture leather hoses pumping water to put out the fire.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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On Friday, Bella Hadid stepped out in Milan to promote her new collaboration with Miss Sixty, rocking blunt platinum bangs reminiscent of the fictional pop star.—
Hannah Malach,
InStyle,
27 Feb. 2026
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Kyle says a teary good-bye to everyone, gets on a boat, and is let out in the deep blue water, heading back to civilization, heading over each rocking swell, not into the future, but somehow into the past.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Like all melodramatists, Hong deals in coincidence and magnifies casual connections and minor accidents into life-shaking events.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Feb. 2026
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Other causes included multiple injuries, gunshot wounds, suffocation, burns and shaking.—
Lisa Schencker,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Seesawing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/seesawing. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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