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tottering

 - 3 dictionary results

tot⋅ter⋅ing

  [tot-er-ing]
Use tottering in a Sentence
–adjective
1. walking unsteadily or shakily.
2. lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse; precarious: a tottering empire.
Origin:
totter + -ing 2

Related forms:
tot⋅ter⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

tot⋅ter

  [tot-er]
–verb (used without object)
1. to walk or go with faltering steps, as if from extreme weakness.
2. to sway or rock on the base or ground, as if about to fall: The tower seemed to totter in the wind. The government was tottering.
3. to shake or tremble: a load that tottered.
–noun
4. the act of tottering; an unsteady movement or gait.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME toteren to swing < ?

Related forms:
tot⋅ter⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. See stagger. 2. waver. 3. oscillate, quiver.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tottering
tot·ter   (tŏt'ər)   
intr.v.   tot·tered, tot·ter·ing, tot·ters

    1. To sway as if about to fall.

    2. To appear about to collapse: an empire that had begun to totter.

  2. To walk unsteadily or feebly; stagger.

n.  The act or condition of tottering.

[Middle English toteren, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]
tot'ter·er n., tot'ter·y adj.
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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