tottery

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tot·ter

(tŏt′ər)

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

a. To sway as if about to fall.

b. To appear about to collapse: an empire that had begun to totter.

2. To walk unsteadily or feebly; stagger. See Synonyms at blunder.

The act or condition of tottering.

[Middle English toteren, perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]

tot′ter·er n.

tot′ter·y adj.

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.

tot•ter•y

(ˈtɒt ə ri)

adj.

tottering; shaky.

[1745–55]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

tottery - unsteady in gait as from infirmity or old age; "a tottering skeleton of a horse"; "a tottery old man"

tottering

unsteady - subject to change or variation; "her unsteady walk"; "his hand was unsteady as he poured the wine"; "an unsteady voice"

tottery

adjective

1. Not physically steady or firm:

precarious, rickety, shaky, tottering, unstable, unsteady, wobbly.

2. Lacking stability:

infirm, insecure, precarious, shaky, tottering, unstable, unsteady, unsure, weak, wobbly.

Translations

barcollante

tottery

[ˈtɒtərɪ] ADJ [elderly person] → de paso tambaleante, de paso nada seguro
he's getting tottery → empieza a andar con poca seguridad

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

tottery

adj → wack(e)lig; person → tatterig; a tottery old man → ein Tattergreis m (inf)

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

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References in classic literature ?

Then, an Argus rejuvenated, albeit lame of both legs and tottery, he turned his back on the perilous west and limped into the sun-arising, re-birthing east.

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It was about nine miles long and five across, shaped, you might say, like a fat dragon standing up, and had two fine land-locked harbours, and a hill in the centre part marked "The Spy-glass." There were several additions of a later date, but above all, three crosses of red ink--two on the north part of the island, one in the southwest--and beside this last, in the same red ink, and in a small, neat hand, very different from the captain's tottery characters, these words: "Bulk of treasure here."

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I found him first, a little withered, dried-up old fellow, wrinkled-faced and bleary-eyed and tottery. He was legitimate prey.

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In the foreground, in the paddock by the barn, was Mab, full of pretty anxieties for the early spring foal that staggered about her on tottery legs.

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His walk was actually tottery as he came down the port side of the cabin.

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Well, when the dark shut down, in the rugged hills, that poor little chap had been tearing around in the saddle all day, and I noticed by the slack knee-pressure that she was tired and tottery, and I got dreadfully afraid; but every time I tried to slow down and let her go to sleep, so I could stop, she hurried me up again; and so, sure enough, at last over she went!

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Initially, he told police she might have fallen and that she was "tottery" after drinking.

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Initially he had told police she might have fallen and that she was "tottery" after drinking.

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All I can tell you is that it involves a full face of war-paint and her most tottery pair of heels.

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All I can tell you is that it involves a full face of warpaint and her most tottery pair of heels.

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We view the new Alpha P-7 technology as an investment in our tottery customers, their retailers, beneficiaries and players."