dodder

¹ American  

[dod-er] / ˈdɒd ər /

verb (used without object)

1. to shake; tremble; totter.

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dodder ² American  

[dod-er] / ˈdɒd ər /

noun

1. a leafless parasitic plant, Cuscuta gronovii, having dense clusters of small, white, bell-shaped flowers on orange-yellow stems that twine about clover or flax.

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dodder ¹ British  

/ ˈdɒdə /

verb

1. to move unsteadily; totter

2. to shake or tremble, as from age

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dodder ² British  

/ ˈdɒdə /

noun

1. any rootless parasitic plant of the convolvulaceous genus Cuscuta , lacking chlorophyll and having slender twining stems with suckers for drawing nourishment from the host plant, scalelike leaves, and whitish flowers

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Other Word Forms

• dodderer noun
• doddery adjective

Etymology

Origin of dodder¹

First recorded in 1610–20; origin uncertain; perhaps a variant of dadder “to shake, tremble,” of expressive origin; dither, totter, teeter, etc.

Origin of dodder²

1225–75; Middle English doder; cognate with Dutch, Danish dodder, Middle Low German dod ( d ) er, Middle High German toter, German Dotter

Example Sentences

Offstage, he was a doddering, stammering dad shuffling around rooms bustling with yapping tiny dogs urinating everywhere.

From Salon

While Biden has been vulnerable to right-wing online trolls who portrayed him as doddering and confused, recent attempts to troll and negatively meme Harris have backfired, Miller said.

From Los Angeles Times

More than that, Trump and his strategists are thoroughly convinced that Biden is a walking, or rather, doddering disaster.

From Los Angeles Times

She was supposed to play the reasonable, relatable young mom to Joe Biden’s supposedly doddering old man who, in his address, came out swinging.

From Salon

The fiery performance, leavened by some humor at the close, aimed to rebut one of the main lines of Republican attack on Biden — the effort to portray the 81-year-old president as doddering and weak.

From Los Angeles Times