teeter

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Related to teetered: teetering on the edge, teetered on the brink

tee·ter

(tē′tər)

intr.v. tee·tered, tee·ter·ing, tee·ters

1. To move or sway unsteadily or unsurely; totter.

2. To alternate, as between opposing attitudes or positions; vacillate.

3. To be close to or in danger of failure or ruin: The housing market teetered on the edge of collapse.

n. Northeastern US

See seesaw.

[Middle English titeren, probably from Old Norse titra, to shake.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

teeter

(ˈtiːtə)

to move or cause to move unsteadily; wobble

n, vb

another word for seesaw

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

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tee•ter

(ˈti tər)

v.i.

1. to move unsteadily.

2. to waver; fluctuate.

3. to ride a seesaw; teetertotter.

4. a seesaw; teetertotter.

[1835–45; variant of dial. titter, Middle English titeren < Old Norse titra tremble]

teeter

Past participle: teetered
Gerund: teetering

Imperative
teeter
teeter

Present
I teeter
you teeter
he/she/it teeters
we teeter
you teeter
they teeter

Preterite
I teetered
you teetered
he/she/it teetered
we teetered
you teetered
they teetered

Present Continuous
I am teetering
you are teetering
he/she/it is teetering
we are teetering
you are teetering
they are teetering

Present Perfect
I have teetered
you have teetered
he/she/it has teetered
we have teetered
you have teetered
they have teetered

Past Continuous
I was teetering
you were teetering
he/she/it was teetering
we were teetering
you were teetering
they were teetering

Past Perfect
I had teetered
you had teetered
he/she/it had teetered
we had teetered
you had teetered
they had teetered

Future
I will teeter
you will teeter
he/she/it will teeter
we will teeter
you will teeter
they will teeter

Future Perfect
I will have teetered
you will have teetered
he/she/it will have teetered
we will have teetered
you will have teetered
they will have teetered

Future Continuous
I will be teetering
you will be teetering
he/she/it will be teetering
we will be teetering
you will be teetering
they will be teetering

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been teetering
you have been teetering
he/she/it has been teetering
we have been teetering
you have been teetering
they have been teetering

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been teetering
you will have been teetering
he/she/it will have been teetering
we will have been teetering
you will have been teetering
they will have been teetering

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been teetering
you had been teetering
he/she/it had been teetering
we had been teetering
you had been teetering
they had been teetering

Conditional
I would teeter
you would teeter
he/she/it would teeter
we would teeter
you would teeter
they would teeter

Past Conditional
I would have teetered
you would have teetered
he/she/it would have teetered
we would have teetered
you would have teetered
they would have teetered

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	teeter - a plaything consisting of a board balanced on a fulcrum; the board is ridden up and down by children at either end dandle board, seesaw, teeterboard, teetertotter, teeter-totter, tilting board playground - yard consisting of an outdoor area for children's play plaything, toy - an artifact designed to be played with
Verb	1.	teeter - move unsteadily, with a rocking motion seesaw, totter move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right"

teeter

verb

1. wobble, rock, totter, balance, stagger, sway, tremble, waver, pivot, seesaw He watched the cup teeter on the edge before it fell.

2. waver, wobble, seesaw, veer They are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

teeter

verb

1. To walk unsteadily:

falter, lurch, reel, stagger, stumble, totter, weave, wobble.

2. To move back and forth or from side to side, as if about to fall:

sway, totter, vacillate, waver, weave, wobble.

Translations

chanceler

tentennare

teeter

[ˈtiːtəʳ] VI → bambolearse, tambalearse (fig) → vacilar, titubear
to teeter on the edge of a nervous breakdown → estar al borde de un ataque nervioso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

teeter

[ˈtiːtə^r] vi

(= be unsteady) [person, object] → vaciller

to teeter on the brink of sth, to teeter on the edge of sth (ruin, civil war, disaster) → être au bord de qchteeter totter n (US) jeu de bascule

teeter

(= balance unsteadily) → taumeln, schwanken; to teeter on the brink or edge of something (lit) → am Rand von etw taumeln; (fig) → am Rand von etw sein

(US: = seesaw) → wippen, schaukeln

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

teeter

[ˈtiːtəʳ] vi → barcollare, vacillare
to teeter on the edge or brink of → vacillare sull'orlo di

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Wildly and more--wildly he teetered, grinning at me his gloating hatred.

View in context

She took the rabbit from him, and while the sapling swayed and teetered threateningly above her she calmly gnawed off the rabbit's head.

View in context

Her designer orange stilettos were so high they could give a girl a nose bleed but heel-loving Posh Spice teetered out in them to brighten up her low-cut black frock.