Wiktionary

yo-yo

See also: yoyo, Yoyo, YOYO, and yoyó

English

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Photograph of a national yo-yo champion in Chico, California

Etymology

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Genericized trademark. Most likely from Ilocano yóyo, or another Philippine cognate. [1] (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Noun

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yo-yo (plural yo-yos)

  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.
    Coordinate terms: diabolo, whirligig
    I bought a yo-yo from the toy store yesterday.
  2. (finance) A volatile market that moves up and down.
  3. (informal) Someone who vacillates.
  4. (aviation, military) 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. (sewing) A cloth rosette formed by gathering the outside edge of a circle of fabric in toward the centre using a running stitch.
  6. (informal) A 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.
    • 1985, Sting & Mark Knopfler (lyrics and music), “Money for Nothing”, in Brothers in Arms, performed by Dire Straits:
      Now look at them yo-yos, that's the way you do it
    • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
      Henry glanced past him at the few other customers currently in attendance. "Hey! Any of you yo-yos headed up Castle Hill?"
    • 1992 February 2, Mitzel, quoting James Kirkwood, “Clay Shaw, The Quean Network & That Kennedy Killing”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 28, page 12:
      When these yo-yos came into the courtroom with their ridiculous testimony... it was a terrible circus.

Hyponyms

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(dogfight maneuver):

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Italian: yo-yo

Translations

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Verb

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yo-yo (third-person singular simple present yo-yos, present participle yo-yoing, simple past and past participle yo-yoed)

  1. (intransitive) To vacillate; to move up and down.
    • 1990, The Economist, volume 316, page 93:
      The yo-yoing stockmarket whizzed back up by around a quarter and then started to fall again.

References

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  1. ^ “Yo-yo.”, in Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, 2021 November 19 (last accessed)

Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English yo-yo.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /joˈjɔ/*, /jɔˈjɔ/*
  • Rhymes: -ɔ

Noun

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yo-yo m (invariable)

  1. (games) yo-yo

Further reading

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