Totter

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈtÉ’tÉ™/
• US IPA: /ˈtɑːtÉš/
• Rhymes: -É’tÉ™(r)

Origin

From Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare English dialectal tolter ("to struggle, flounder"); Scots tolter ("unstable, wonky")), from Old English tealtrian ("to totter, vacillate"), from Proto-Germanic *taltrōną, *taltōną ("to sway, dangle, hesitate"), from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- ("to shake, hesitate"). Cognate with Dutch touteren ("to tremble"), North Frisian talt, tolt ("unstable, shaky"). Related to tilt.

Full definition of totter

Noun

1. an unsteady movement or gait
2. (archaic) A rag and bone man.

Verb

1. To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.
   The baby tottered from the table to the chair.
   The old man tottered out of the pub into the street.
   The car tottered on the edge of the cliff.
• 2014-04-21, Subtle effects, Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.
2. (archaic, intransitive) To collect junk or scrap.

Synonyms

• (move unsteadily) teeter, toddle, sway

Related terms

• teeter-totter
• topple