totter
verb /ˈtɒtə(r)/
/ˈtɑːtər/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they totter | /ˈtɒtə(r)/ /ˈtɑːtər/ |
he / she / it totters | /ˈtɒtəz/ /ˈtɑːtərz/ |
past simple tottered | /ˈtɒtəd/ /ˈtɑːtərd/ |
past participle tottered | /ˈtɒtəd/ /ˈtɑːtərd/ |
-ing form tottering | /ˈtɒtərɪŋ/ /ˈtɑːtərɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to walk or move with weak, unsteady steps, especially because you are drunk or ill synonym stagger
- She managed to totter back to her seat.
- [intransitive] to be weak and seem likely to fall
- the tottering walls of the castle
- (figurative) a tottering dictatorship
Word OriginMiddle English: from Middle Dutch touteren ‘to swing’ (the original sense in English).