tottering
Use Tottering in a sentence
ər adjective
1.
walking unsteadily or shakily.
2.
lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse; precarious: a tottering empire.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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.
Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English toteren to swing < ?
1150–1200; Middle English toteren to swing < ?
Related forms
tot·ter·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To tottering
00:10
Tottering
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
totter (ˈtɒtə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to walk or move in an unsteady manner, as from old age |
| 2. | to sway or shake as if about to fall |
| 3. | to be failing, unstable, or precarious |
| —n | |
| 4. | the act or an instance of tottering |
| [C12: perhaps from Old English tealtrian to waver, and Middle Dutch touteren to stagger] | |
| 'totterer | |
| —n | |
| 'tottering | |
| —adj | |
| 'totteringly | |
| —adv | |
| 'tottery | |
| —adj | |
| totter (ˈtɒtə) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to walk or move in an unsteady manner, as from old age |
| 2. | to sway or shake as if about to fall |
| 3. | to be failing, unstable, or precarious |
| —n | |
| 4. | the act or an instance of tottering |
| [C12: perhaps from Old English tealtrian to waver, and Middle Dutch touteren to stagger] | |
| 'totterer | |
| —n | |
| 'tottering | |
| —adj | |
| 'totteringly | |
| —adv | |
| 'tottery | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
totter
c.1200, "swing to and fro," perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Norw. totra "to quiver, shake"). Meaning "stand or walk with shaky, unsteady steps" is from c.1600.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Example sentences
Remains the last superpower tottering on shaky feet.
Chimneys began to fall and buildings to crack, tottering on their foundations.
The result is a domino effect: prices fall, driving other tottering operators into bankruptcy.
He mimed some woozy tottering and a convulsive hurl.
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