Meaning

4 senses
  1. (intransitive)To tilt back and forth on an edge.

    He teetered on the brink of the precipice.

    schwanken, wankeln, sich winden

    кача́тьсяkačátʹsja, колеба́тьсяkolebátʹsja

  2. (intransitive)To totter (move unsteadily).

    move unsteadily, with a rocking motion

  3. (figuratively)To be indecisive; to hesitate.

    We teetered on the fence about buying getaway tickets and missed the opportunity.

  4. (figuratively)To be close to becoming a typically negative situation.

    Despite appearances, the firm was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Examples

7 sentences
  1. Tom and Mary were playing on the teeter-totter.

    ruТом и Мэри качались на качелях.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. The book teetered on the edge of the table.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · mccarras · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. Because of his maladministration, his company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · patgfisher · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. What we are seeing now is a country teetering on the brink of civil war.

    deWas wir jetzt sehen, ist ein Land, welches am Rande eines Bürgerkriegs entlangtaumelt.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · patgfisher · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. Many small businesses with limited cash reserves are teetering on the edge of financial ruin.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · Hybrid · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

6 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
tilt back and forth on an edge:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
tilt back and forth on an edge:

Origin

Alteration of titter.

Alteration of titter.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

teeters, teetering, teetered, teetered
Base formteeter · to teeter
3rd person singularteeters
Present participleteetering
Past simpleteetered
Past participleteetered

irregular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyteeter
he, she, itteeters

Past simpleLesson

all personsteetered

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave teetered
he, she, ithas teetered

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill teeter

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

6 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
teeter — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto