teeter

teeter
[[t]ti͟ːtə(r)[/t]]
teeters, teetering, teetered
1) VERB (emphasis) Teeter is used in expressions such as teeter on the brink and teeter on the edge to emphasize that something seems to be in a very unstable situation or position.

[V on n] Three of the hotels are in receivership, and others are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy...

[V on n] His voice teetered on the edge of hysteria.

[V on n] ...white towns teetering precariously on the edge of cliffs.

2) VERB If someone or something teeters, they shake in an unsteady way, and seem to be about to lose their balance and fall over.

[V adv/prep] Hyde shifted his weight and felt himself teeter forward, beginning to overbalance...

[V adv/prep] He watched the cup teeter on the edge before it fell. [Also V]


English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • teeter — [tēt′ər] vi. [dial. titter < ME titeren < ON titra, to tremble, akin to Ger zittern < redupl. of IE base * drā , to step > TRAP1, TRIP] to totter, wobble, waver, etc. vt. to cause to teeter n. short for TEETER TOTTER …   English World dictionary

  • teeter — (v.) 1843, to seesaw, alteration of M.E. titter move unsteadily, probably from O.N. titra to shake, shiver, totter, related to Ger. zittern to tremble. Noun teeter totter see saw is attested from 1905 …   Etymology dictionary

  • teeter — [v] wobble back and forth balance, dangle, falter, flutter, lurch, pivot, quiver, reel, rock, seesaw, stagger, stammer, stumble, sway, teeter totter*, topple, totter, tremble, tremble precariously, waver, weave, wiggle; concept 145 Ant. stabilize …   New thesaurus

  • Teeter — Tee ter, v. i. & t. [imp. & p. p. {Teetered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Teetering}.] [Prov. E. titter to tremble, to seesaw; cf. Icel. titra to tremble, OHG. zittar[=o]n, G. zittern.] To move up and down on the ends of a balanced plank, or the like, as… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • teeter — index beat (pulsate) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • teeter — vb *shake, tremble, quake, totter, quiver, shiver, shudder, quaver, wobble, shimmy, dither …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • teeter — ► VERB 1) move or balance unsteadily. 2) waver between different courses. ORIGIN Old Norse, shake, shiver …   English terms dictionary

  • teeter — Synonyms and related words: Lissajous figure, alternate, alternation, back and fill, back and forth, balance, battledore and shuttlecock, change, come and go, coming and going, cower, dither, dodder, ebb and flow, equivocate, falter, flounder,… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • teeter — UK [ˈtiːtə(r)] / US [ˈtɪtər] verb [intransitive] Word forms teeter : present tense I/you/we/they teeter he/she/it teeters present participle teetering past tense teetered past participle teetered to stand or move in a way that is not steady and… …   English dictionary

  • teeter — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) v. i. seesaw, rock, sway, totter, tremble; hesitate, vacillate. See oscillation, doubt. II (Roget s IV) v. Syn. tremble precariously, seesaw, totter, wobble, sway, waver, dangle, reel, stagger, quiver,… …   English dictionary for students

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