teeter
pronunciation
How to pronounce teeter in British English:
UK [ˈti:tə(r)]
How to pronounce teeter in American English:
US [ˈtitɚ]
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- Verb:
- move unsteadily, with a rocking motion
Word Origin
- teeter (v.)
- 1843, "to seesaw," alteration of Middle English titter "move unsteadily," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse titra "to shake, shiver, totter, tremble," from Proto-Germanic *ti-tra- (cognates: German zittern "to tremble"). Meaning "move unsteadily, be on the edge of imbalance" is from 1844. Noun teeter-totter "see-saw" is attested from 1905 (earlier simply teeter, 1855, and titter-totter in same sense is from 1520s). Totter (n.) "board swing" is recorded from late 14c.; see totter (v.).
Example
- 1. Fixed the dining room table so it doesn 't teeter ?
- 2. Miss teeter ? I was hoping to catch you .
- 3. Housing repossessions are still very rare ; the state budget is still in surplus even as california and new york teeter on the edge of bankruptcy .
- 4. They hear it crawling in the wall , miss teeter !
- 5. I keep a clean building , miss teeter .