doddering

dodder¹ (ˈdɒdə)

—vb
1.	to move unsteadily; totter
2.	to shake or tremble, as from age

[C17: variant of earlier dadder; related to Norwegian dudra to tremble]

'dodderer¹

—n

'doddery¹

—*adj*

dodder² (ˈdɒdə)

—n
	any rootless parasitic plant of the convolvulaceous genus Cuscuta, lacking chlorophyll and having slender twining stems with suckers for drawing nourishment from the host plant, scalelike leaves, and whitish flowers

[C13: of Germanic origin; related to Middle Dutch, Middle Low German dodder, Middle High German toter]

doddering (ˈdɒdərɪŋ)

—*adj*
	shaky, feeble, or infirm, esp from old age

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Word Origin & History

dodder

1610s, from M.E. daderen "to quake, tremble" (late 15c.), apparently frequentative of dialectal dade, on a form similar to totter, patter. Related: Doddering.

Example sentences

Everyone in the family, from house pets to doddering grandparents, does it.

And now he is playing the doddering, out-of-touch old fool who was betrayed by

his feckless employees.

Someday she will be a doddering old crone in a nursing home with a zipper

tattoo.

We will keep doddering about so long as the markets feel they can still make

money, fundamentals be damned.

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Related Words

anile

Matching Quote

"To speak of God, to think of God, is in every respect to show what one is made of.... I have always wagered against God and I regard the little that I have won in this world as simply the outcome of this bet. However paltry may have been the stake (my life) I am conscious of having won to the full. Everything that is doddering, squint-eyed, vile, polluted and grotesque is summoned up for me in that one word: God!"

-André Breton

doddering

dod·der·ing

dod·der