yo-yo

noun

1. 1

   A toy consisting of a spheroidal or cylindrical spindle having a circular groove in which string is wound; it is used by holding the string in the fingers and reeling the spindle up and down by movements of the wrist.

   I bought a yo-yo from the toy store yesterday.

2. 2

   A volatile market that moves up and down.

3. 3

   informalSomeone who vacillates.

4. 4

   A dogfighting maneuver involving the attacker temporarily exchanging altitude for airspeed, or vice versa, in order to rapidly catch up with the defender or to prevent an overshoot.

5. 5

   A cloth rosette formed by gathering the outside edge of a circle of fabric in toward the centre using a running stitch.

6. 6

   informalA foolish, annoying or incompetent person.

   It is hard to watch the management for very long and not conclude that the place is run by a bunch of yo-yos.

   Now look at them yo-yos, that's the way you do it

   Henry glanced past him at the few other customers currently in attendance. "Hey! Any of you yo-yos headed up Castle Hill?"

   When these yo-yos came into the courtroom with their ridiculous testimony... it was a terrible circus.

verb

1. 1

   To vacillate; to move up and down.

   The yo-yoing stockmarket whizzed back up by around a quarter and then started to fall again.

Forms

plural

yo-yos

past tense

yo-yoed

past participle

yo-yoed

present participle

yo-yoing

third person singular

yo-yos