I. ˈtäd.ə(r), -ätə- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English toteren, totren; perhaps akin to Old English tealtrian to waver, totter — more at tilt
intransitive verb
1. obsolete : to be indecisive : waver
many likelihoods … which hung so tottering in the balance — Shakespeare
2.
a. : to oscillate or lean dizzily : shimmy , sway
tottered and fell forward upon her bicycle — Maurice Hewlett
buildings were still tottering and flames were raging — D.D.S.Pool
b. : to become unstable : threaten to collapse
so many thrones had tottered to their fall — Robert Grant †1940
virtue could seem momentarily to totter — Louis Kronenberger
3. : to move unsteadily : stagger , wobble
weak with fever, he tottered to the window — Jean Stafford
transitive verb
: to cause to totter
tottered walls, gates and circuses — P.E.Deutschman
II. noun
( -s )
1. New England : seesaw
2. : an unsteady gait : wobble