totter
verb (used without object)
to walk or go with faltering, unsteady steps.
had been tottering
-
past perfect progressiveof totter.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the merger had been tottering for weeks.
From Time Magazine Archive
Their mid-day meal was over, and Robert had been devoting himself to Mary, who had been tottering round the room in his wake, clutching one finger tight with her chubby hand.
From Robert Elsmere by Mrs. Humphry Ward
The Empire had been tottering on its base until then; after Beaumont it was virtually doomed.
From An Englishman in Paris Notes and Recollections by Albert D.
The Marshes, as she had previously known them, had been tottering on the edge of shabby gentility.
From North of Fifty-Three by Anton Otto Fischer
It is meet that that sinner, looking down into the dreadful chasm over which he had been tottering, should feel a shudder of delight through all his frame on thinking of his escape.
From Sermons Preached at Brighton Third Series by Frederick William Robertson
