teeter

[tee-ter]

verb (used without object)

1. to move unsteadily.

2. to ride a seesaw; teetertotter.

verb (used with object)

1. to tip (something) up and down; move unsteadily.

noun

1. a seesaw motion; wobble.

2. a seesaw; teetertotter.

teeter

/ ˈtiːtə /

verb

1. to move or cause to move unsteadily; wobble

noun

1. another word for seesaw

Word History and Origins

Origin of teeter¹

1835–45; variant of dial. titter, Middle English titeren < Old Norse titra tremble; cognate with German zittern to tremble, quiver

Word History and Origins

Origin of teeter¹

C19: from Middle English titeren, related to Old Norse titra to tremble, Old High German zittarōn to shiver

Example Sentences

Ridge ran a few steps forward but stopped, teetering on his feet.

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“Many of the key teachings from OneTaste teetered between helping and harming the student,” she writes.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The two countries teetered perilously close to war earlier this year after militants in April killed 26 people, mostly Indian tourists, in India-administered Kashmir.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

One man, Garfield, has chosen virtue; another, Conkling, has chosen corruption; the third, Guiteau, has no real choice in the matter but keeps an audience teetering between pity and revulsion.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

After two exhausting years — full of deep postseason runs and season-opening international trips and the daily pressure that came with their heavy offseason expenditures — the club’s tank appeared to be teetering on empty.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dangle 
• falter 
• flutter 
• lurch 
• reel 
• seesaw 
• stagger 
• stumble 
• totter 
• tremble 
• waver