Totter Definition
tŏtər
tottered, tottering, totters
verb
tottered, tottering, totters
To rock or shake as if about to fall; be unsteady.
Webster's New World
To be on the point of failure or collapse.
Webster's New World
To proceed with feeble, unsure steps.
Webster's New World
To walk unsteadily or feebly; stagger.
American Heritage
noun
totters
The act or condition of tottering.
American Heritage
An unsteady walk or movement.
Webster's New World
(archaic) A rag and bone man.
Wiktionary
Origin of Totter
-
From Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare English dialectal tolter (“to struggle, flounder"); Scots tolter (“unstable, wonky")), from Old English tealtrian (“to totter, vacillate"), from Proto-Germanic *taltrōnÄ…, *taltōnÄ… (“to sway, dangle, hesitate"), from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate"). Cognate with Dutch touteren (“to tremble"), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky"). Related to tilt.
From Wiktionary
Middle English toteren perhaps of Scandinavian origin
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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