to teeter
32
5.7
- verb
- /ˈtiːtər/
:
tambalearse
- Twenty years after its adoption, the statute teeters on the verge of collapse.
- teeter on the brink
- teeter on the edge
- seem to teeter
In those cases, the hope that was already teetering and fragile finally drops.
- In those cases, the hope that was already teetering and fragile finally drops.
- But now, as their empire teeters, so does their control.
- The new study reveals that the brain's secret lies in its ability to teeter on the edge of chaos.
- I, I was teetering back and forth between skepticism and optimism.
- Pulling back my bed sheets, I teeter down the hall to the face of a new clock in the bathroom mirror.
- My hope is to create objects that teeter between the prehistoric and futuristic objects that seems ruins of a world yet to come.
- I feel like, you know, we're teetering on on kind of like social collapse at the moment as opposed to, you know, what we could have kind of learned throughout this.
- So you're in this state of teetering on hopelessness your year end.
- Something teetering on the spine of the number I.
- So the English is an ailing Mallard falls through the chilly night and teeters off.
Examples
-
Our social structure in this small town seems to teeter on a delicate balance, one which I certainly cannot in any way attempt to influence.
-
No doubt the world's stock markets would teeter and perhaps fall precipitously.
Academic text (2005) -
One last try: By the end of 2006, Iraq appeared to be teetering on the edge of civil war.
Academic text (2011) -
Several TYA companies have shut down; others teeter on the brink of financial collapse.
Academic text (1993) -
But the child born of necessity is still, at best, teetering between adolescence and adulthood.
Academic text (1996) -
Nazi Germany teeters on surrender as the Fatherland crumbles.
-
The child began to teeter on the edge of the curb as he tried to balance himself.
-
The stack of books started to teeter dangerously, prompting her to steady it before it fell.
-
As the roller coaster climbed higher, it seemed to teeter at the top before plunging down.
Synonyms
77
2.4
To move slowly from side to side in a gentle rhythm
12
4.8
To move or shake in a slight, unsteady way
11
4.8
To walk in an unsteady way as if about to fall
1
3.6
To move up and down or back and forth repeatedly
To walk with small, unsteady steps
To walk in a wobbly way as if about to fall
To move unsteadily from side to side
Antonyms
Compounds
How Unsteady
Surface Forms
Etymology
Teeter comes from the playful repeated phrase teeter-totter, a sound that copies rocking and wobbling and is like the word totter which means 'to move unsteadily'. So, to teeter is to move or stand in a shaky, back-and-forth way.