totter Hear it!

totter Definition

tot·ter (tätər)

intransitive verb

    1. to rock or shake as if about to fall; be unsteady
    2. to be on the point of failure or collapse
  1. to be unsteady on one's feet; stagger

Etymology: ME toteren, prob. < Scand, as in Norw dial. totra, to quiver, shake

noun

an unsteady walk or movement

totter Related Forms
tot·ter·ing adjective tot·ter·ingly adverb tot·tery adjective
totter Synonyms

totter

v.

  1. To be near falling

    shake, rock, careen, lurch, quake, tremble, seesaw, teeter, dodder, crumple, sway, wobble, be loose, be weak; see also wave 3.

  2. To stagger

    stumble, falter, trip, weave, zigzag, reel, rock, roll, walk drunkenly, wobble, waver, hesitate.

totter Usage Examples

Followed by a transitive particle

  • up: I was very pleased with myself that I managed to totter up most of the hills.

Object

  • pile: All this is a great tottering pile balanced on a ball, a ball that is about to start rolling downhill.
  • step: The 21st Century Party initiative has taken us the first few tottering steps down this road.
  • regime: In a confidential report to Kennedy, Mansfield said he saw little point in America continuing to support President Diem's tottering regime.
  • tower: With a tottering tower of CDs sitting on the window sill, patiently waiting for review, it's clearly time for another mix.

Preposition: on

  • brink: Sunday 16 th July Lord, have mercy on our wayward world, tottering on the brink of self-destruction.
  • edge: I saw him trying to get back into the coach which was tottering on the edge of a bridge.
  • verge: Due to a decrease in investment from abroad, these economies appear to be tottering on the verge of economic collapse.

Modifying Another Word

  • back: I am now tottering back into health but my spirits are gloomy.
  • then: This is great news, as you can enjoy your good ' knees up ' , and then totter upstairs to your room!
  • forward: Struggling to his feet he tottered forward supporting himself with the branches.
  • now: Divided on Europe, rejected by the electorate, the Conservatives now totter on the verge of self-destruction over the euro.
  • not: They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So it will not totter.
  • away: How could five old men tottering away to their final resting place be enthusiastic on the reception of a stranger?

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • around: He totally transformed what we were doing from students tottering around in a studio to dancers beginning to understand the movement.
  • off: He got up among the crowd of guests and tottered off.
  • along: Things like crashing around the house in her baby walker or tottering along behind her push cart.
  • out: Three of the injured came tottering out from the coal face and collapsed in our arms.
  • up: Eventually there was a move to totter up to the Hunters which some of us achieved.
totter Quotes

It is charming to totter into vogue.

—Walpole, Horace, 4th Earl of Orford

As I grow older and older, And totter towards the tomb, I find that I care less and less Who goes to bed with whom.

—Sayers, Dorothy L(eigh)

Browse dictionary entries near totter

  1. Tottenham
  2. totipotent
  3. totipalmate
  4. toti-
  5. tother
  6. totemism
  7. totem pole
  8. totem
  9. tote board
  10. tote bag
  1. toucan
  2. touch
  3. touch-and-go
  4. touch down
  5. touché
  6. touch football
  7. touch-me-not
  8. touch off
  9. touch screen
  10. touch system