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teeter-totter

 - 3 dictionary results

tee⋅ter⋅tot⋅ter

[tee-ter-tot-er] Chiefly Northern, North Midland, and Western U.S.
–noun
1. a seesaw.
–verb (used without object)
2. to ride a seesaw.
Also, teeter-totter.


Origin:
gradational formation based on totter


1. See seesaw.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To teeter-totter
see·saw   (sē'sô')   
n.  
  1. A long plank balanced on a central fulcrum so that with a person riding on each end, one end goes up as the other goes down. Also called regionally dandle, dandle board, teedle board, teeter, teeterboard, teeter-totter, tilt1, tilting board. See Regional Note at teeter-totter.

  2. The act or game of riding a seesaw.

  3. A back-and-forth or up-and-down movement, as of the lead between two contesting parties.

intr.v.   see·sawed, see·saw·ing, see·saws
  1. To play on a seesaw.

  2. To move back and forth or up and down.


[Reduplication of saw1.]
tee·ter-tot·ter   (tē'tər-tŏt'ər)   
n.   Upper Northern & Western U.S.
See seesaw.
The outdoor toy usually called a seesaw has a number of regional names, New England having the greatest variety in the smallest area. In southeast New England it is called a tilt or a tilting board. Speakers in northeast Massachusetts call it a teedle board; in the Narragansett Bay area the term changes to dandle or dandle board. Teeter or teeterboard is used more generally in the northeast United States, while teeter-totter, probably the most common term after seesaw, is used across the inland northern states and westward to the West Coast. Both seesaw (from the verb saw) and teeter-totter (from teeter, as in to teeter on the edge) demonstrate the linguistic process called reduplication, where a word or syllable is doubled, often with a different vowel. Reduplication is typical of words that indicate repeated activity, such as riding up and down on a seesaw.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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