totter
To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringlyTo walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.
» Tom and Mary were playing on the teeter-totter.
Том и Мэри качались на качелях.
Meaning
3 senses(intransitive)To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.
The baby tottered from the table to the chair.
The old man tottered out of the pub into the street.
schwanken, taumeln, torkeln
ковыля́тьkovyljátʹ, шата́тьсяšatátʹsja, кача́тьсяkačátʹsja
move without being stable, as if threatening to fall
(figuratively, intransitive)To be on the brink of collapse.
(archaic, intransitive)To collect junk or scrap.
Examples
7 sentencesTom and Mary were playing on the teeter-totter.
ruТом и Мэри качались на качелях.
An old man came tottering along.
The whole power structure is tottering.
deDas gesamte Machtgefüge wankt.
We tottered together upon the brink of the fall.
The colt was finally able to stand and followed tottering after its mother.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare dialectal English tolFrom Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare dialectal English tolter (“to struggle, flounder”); Scots tolter (“unstable, wonky”)), from Old English tealtrian (“to totter, vacillate”), from Proto-Germanic *taltrōną, a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *taltōną (“to sway, dangle, hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”).
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Forms
totters, tottering, tottered, totteredSynonyms
11 synonymsWord family
9 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle