teeter
Americanverb (used without object)
-
teeters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
teetered,
past participle, past
-
teetering
present participle
-
to move unsteadily.
-
to ride a seesaw; teetertotter.
verb (used with object)
-
teeters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
teetered,
past participle, past
-
teetering
present participle
noun
-
a seesaw motion; wobble.
-
a seesaw; teetertotter.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
teetersimple
-
teeterssimple
-
have teeteredperfect
-
has teeteredperfect
-
am teeteringprogressive
-
are teeteringprogressive
-
is teeteringprogressive
-
have been teeteringperfect progressive
-
has been teeteringperfect progressive
Past
-
teeteredsimple
-
had teeteredperfect
-
was teeteringprogressive
-
were teeteringprogressive
-
had been teeteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of teeter
1835–45; variant of dial. titter, Middle English titeren < Old Norse titra tremble; cognate with German zittern to tremble, quiver
Explanation
To teeter is to waver or sway a bit from lack of balance. When people first learn to ride a bicycle, they inevitably teeter for a while before becoming more skilled and confident. A beginning gymnast will teeter on the balance beam, and anyone who's not accustomed to high-heeled shoes will teeter as they walk in them. Figuratively, you might even teeter, or hesitate, between two hard choices. A "teeter-totter," or seesaw, is a playground toy for two people, a long board fixed on a center support, designed so that when one kid is down, the other is up.
Vocabulary lists containing teeter
The Egypt Game
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Purple Hibiscus
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Charlotte's Web
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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.
See Examples For:
Crisis strikes the kitchen when our forgotten, shelved-away ingredients teeter on the fine line between fresh and spoiled.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
The characters in her novels long for stability in landscapes where the past is forever intruding on the present—they teeter on the shifting border between perception and fact.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
If it can’t get payments from tenants quickly enough to cover its debt needs, the company’s business model could teeter.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2025
"I'm constantly trying to teeter on, you know, 'are people over the old stuff? Do they want new stuff?'"
From BBC ● May 30, 2025
It caused him to teeter and almost fall.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
The government may be tempted to do it again if a large private fund teeters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026
The film is so committed to its rigors — the two-person cast, the glacial camera pivots, the moody lighting — that it teeters on the line of becoming monotonous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
Broadcom earnings could be strong thanks to artificial intelligence demand, but shareholders should be prepared for a muted stock reaction as market sentiment teeters.
From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026
The rest of Sudan teeters on the edge of disaster.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025
On an apple bough, the phoebe teeters and wags its tail and says, “Phoebe, phoe-bee!”
From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
MP Materials, a volatile small-cap since its 2020 special-purpose acquisition company debut, has swung between boom and bust for rare-earth investors but has never teetered on the edge of failure.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Lebanon has long teetered on the edge of being a failed state.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
The company famously teetered on the edge of bankruptcy in 1996, surviving only through a $5 million cash injection from the Japanese videogame developer Sega.
From MarketWatch ● May 23, 2026
It would be a surreal, but very sweet final destination for a campaign that has teetered at times, but clung to a course.
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2025
His mouth slackened like a wet, boingy rubber band, and before he could do anything about it, his head teetered, tottered.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
When Lawrence was run out in a mix-up with Cox, England were 120-5 and teetering.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
No one in Kalia’s extended founder network has considered taking time off or expressed concerns about burnout, though he sees many seemingly teetering on the edge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Now that a majority of Americans own stocks, policymakers may find it hard to sit on the sidelines and not step in if the equity market is teetering, Balchunas said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
Some were teetering on the verge of collapse and others had already fallen.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
I can see the first apple teetering when I let the third arrow go, catching the torn flap of burlap and ripping it from the bag.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
