Tottering

Tottering
Totter Tot"ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Tottered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Tottering}.] [Probably for older tolter; cf. AS. tealtrian to totter, vacillate. Cf.{Tilt} to incline, {Toddle}, {Tottle}, {Totty}.] 1. To shake so as to threaten a fall; to vacillate; to be unsteady; to stagger; as, an old man totters with age. ``As a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.'' --Ps. lxii. 3. [1913 Webster]

2. To shake; to reel; to lean; to waver. [1913 Webster]

Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • tottering — index insecure, precarious Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • tottering — adjective Date: 1534 1. a. being in an unstable condition < a tottering building > b. walking unsteadily 2. lacking firmness or stability ; insecure < a tottering regime > • totteringly adverb …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • tottering — adjective 1. unsteady in gait as from infirmity or old age (Freq. 3) a tottering skeleton of a horse a tottery old man • Syn: ↑tottery • Similar to: ↑unsteady 2. (of structures or institutions) having lost stabilit …   Useful english dictionary

  • tottering — totteringly, adv. /tot euhr ing/, adj. 1. walking unsteadily or shakily. 2. lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse; precarious: a tottering empire. [TOTTER + ING2] * * * …   Universalium

  • tottering — Synonyms and related words: Lissajous figure, alternation, ambling, ambulation, anile, back and forth, backpacking, cautious, circumspect, claudicant, collapsing, coming and going, crabbed, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail, debilitated,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • tottering — adjective a) Unsteady, precarious or rickety. b) Unstable, insecure or wobbly …   Wiktionary

  • tottering — (Roget s Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Not physically steady or firm: precarious, rickety, shaky, tottery, unstable, unsteady, wobbly. See FLEXIBLE. 2. Lacking stability: infirm, insecure, precarious, shaky, tottery, unstable, unsteady, unsure, weak …   English dictionary for students

  • tottering — tot·ter || tÉ‘tÉ™(r) / tÉ’t v. stagger, wobble, tremble, sway …   English contemporary dictionary

  • tottering — adjective (of a building) shake or rock as if about to collapse. → totter …   English new terms dictionary

  • tottering — tot•ter•ing [[t]ˈtɒt ər ɪŋ[/t]] adj. 1) walking unsteadily or shakily 2) lacking security or stability; threatening to collapse tot′ter•ing•ly, adv …   From formal English to slang

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