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
As for the faded-out woman, her opinion, which had been tottering under a severe reproof from Cutey, now underwent a complete revolution.
From The Galaxy, June 1877 Vol. XXIII.—June, 1877.—No. 6. by Various
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
Strong men who showed themselves outside full in the face of the wind were blown down flat as if they had been tottering children.
From The Romance of the Coast by James Runciman
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
