teeter

teeter

See also: Teeter

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtiːtə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtitəɹ/, [ˈtʰiɾɚ]

Verb

teeter (third-person singular simple present teeters, present participle teetering, simple past and past participle teetered)

1. (intransitive) To tilt back and forth on an edge.

   He teetered on the brink of the precipice.

2. (figuratively) To be indecisive.

   We teetered on the fence about buying getaway tickets and missed the opportunity.

3. (figuratively) To be close to becoming a typically negative situation.

   Despite appearances, the firm was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Derived terms

• teeterer
• teeter-totter
• teeterboard

Translations

tilt back and forth on an edge

Catalan: titubejar (ca), trontollar (ca) Czech: kolísat (na hraně) Dutch: wankelen (nl), waggelen (nl) Finnish: hoippua, horjua (fi) French: basculer (fr), tituber (fr), branler (fr)

German: schwanken (de), wankeln (de), sich winden, taumeln (de) Maori: tīkokikoki, tūkokikoki, tūretireti Russian: кача́ться (ru) (kačátʹsja), колеба́ться (ru) (kolebátʹsja) Spanish: tambalearse (es)

Noun

teeter (plural teeters)

1. (Canada, US) A teeter-totter or seesaw.

Anagrams

• terete