Yo-yo

Definitions

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.
2. A volatile market that moves up and down.
3. Someone who vacillates.
   informal
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. A cloth rosette formed by gathering the outside edge of a circle of fabric in toward the centre using a running stitch.
6. A foolish, annoying or incompetent person.
   informal

Equivalents

Examples

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

“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.”

CEFR level