| 释义 |
▪ I. teeter, n. dial. and U.S.|ˈtiːtə(r)|
Also teater, teter.
[f. teeter v.]
1. A see-saw; a see-sawing or swaying motion; the game of see-saw; also fig. hesitation between two alternatives, vacillation. Also attrib., teeter-board (spec. in circus use.)
1855Knickerbocker XLVI. 88 We were having a grand time with our ‘teeter’-boards upon the highest fence. 1863Harper's Mag. Aug. 343/2 Teeters to jump on, rings to swing by. 1867Lowell Biglow P. Ser. ii. iii, I tell you you've gut to larn thet War ain't one long teeter Betwixt I wan' to an 'T wunt du. 1883U.S. Patent No. 292254, In a teeter, the stands A, having inclined posts a, that are connected on top by the socketed pivot-castings b, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 1887F. T. Havergal Hereford Gloss. 34 ‘All on the teater’. 1895N. Brit. Daily Mail 15 Oct. 5 The ‘teter’ or undulating motion..in the present cars is entirely got rid of. 1897Chicago Advance 30 Sept. 437/2 We [in the U.S.] are not on a teeter-board and have no need to be incessantly concerned about the balance of power. 1965Sun 26 Oct. 5/1 The Seven Halasi, a Hungarian family using teeter boards. 1979Times 13 Dec. 7/6 The Kovatchevi troupe..will..bounce a performer from a teeter-board to the shoulders of the top performer.
2. The spotted sandpiper, Actitis macularia, found in eastern North America.
1842J. E. DeKay Zool. N.Y. i. 247 The Spotted Sand-Lark..is known..[as] Teeter and Tiltup, from its often repeated grotesque jerking motions. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer., Peet-Weet..the spotted Sandpiper.., better known..by the name of..Teeter and Tilt-up or Tip-up, from its often repeated grotesque jerking motions. 1895Outing XXXVII. 69/2 The ‘teeter’ is fat and well flavored.
▪ II. teeter, v.|ˈtiːtə(r)|
Also teter.
[var. of titter v. to totter, move unsteadily.]
1. intr.
a. To see-saw. dial. and U.S.
1843Mrs. Stowe Mayflower 47 Then he was tetering [1855 ed.: teetering] with her on a long board. 1846Worcester, Teeter.., to seesaw on a balanced plank, as children, for amusement. (U.S.) 1847Webster, Teeter, v. (prov. Eng. titter, to tremble, to seesaw..), to seesaw. (U.S.)
b. To move like a see-saw; to sway from side to side; to move unsteadily; esp. of a person or animal, to walk with a swaying motion; to balance oneself unsteadily on alternate feet. So teeter-totter, teter-totter.
1844‘J. Slick’ High Life N.Y. II. 231, I teetered up tu her a tiptoe. c1850E. G. Paige Serm. I. 184 You tip and teeter about, thinking that you excite the admiration of all. 1854Thoreau Walden ix. (1886) 184 The peetweets..‘teter’ along its stony shores all summer. 1888J. W. Riley in Voice (N.Y.) 21 June, Turn to the lane where we used to ‘teeter-totter’, Printing little foot-palms in the mellow mold. 1904W. Churchill Crossing II. xiv. 422, I felt the ground teetering under my feet. 1904in Eng. Dial. Dict. (Essex), A watch⁓maker said of a wheel of which the pivot was bent, ‘It teeters’. 1943C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter i. 29 They helped Blount to his feet. He teetered weakly. 1950R. Macaulay World my Wilderness vii. 66 The iron spokes swung teetering and creaking in the breeze. 1961B. Pym No Fond Return of Love xii. 111 Marian left the house, teetering down the path to the bus stop on her stiletto heels. 1973O. Sacks Awakenings 35 Miss D. would teeter forward in tiny rapid steps. 1982T. Berger Reinhart's Women ii. 35 ‘I'll teeter on the curb,’ said Reinhart, ‘and try not to fall into the gutter.’
c. Also fig., esp. in phr. to teeter on the brink and varr.
1902A. H. Lewis Wolfville Nights xvii. 259 A quorum of the committee is away teeterin' about in their own affairs. 1930Punch 26 Feb. 237/1, I really have not time to go into the whole story now... I will quit stalling lest I teeter. 1937‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier xiii. 261 Every bank clerk dreaming of the sack, every shopkeeper teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, is in essentially the same position. 1949Times 29 Sept. 5/2 The Government..still tremble and teeter on the verge. 1958Daily Sketch 2 June 13/7 He effectively suggested an officer teetering on the edge of sanity. 1979C. James Pillars of Hercules i. i. 25 He was teetering on the verge of declaring himself outright. 1980D. Adams Restaurant at End of Universe iii. 25 Zaphod felt he was teetering on the edge of madness. 1983Brit. Med. Jrnl. 23 July 279/2 Subsistence farming is widespread with nutrition teetering on the inadequate.
2. trans. To move (anything) with a see-saw motion; to tip up and down, to tilt. To see-saw. dial. and U.S.
1874Coues Birds N.W. 30 All the while ‘teetering’ its body, and performing odd, nervous antics. 1906Daily Chron. 14 Feb. 3/3 The author escaped the charge of a rhinoceros by the animal stepping on the same log on which Mr. Whitney was standing, and thus ‘teetering’ him aside. 1907Black Cat June 36 As he teetered the fretting baby on his knee.
3. Comb. teeter-tail, the American sandpiper: = teeter n. 2.
1917Dialect Notes IV. 424 The spotted sandpiper..also called swee-swee, teeter-tail. 1937National Geogr. Mag. Aug. 201/2 Spotted Sandpiper... Nearly every pond, stream, or lake shore has its ‘tip-up’ or ‘teeter-tail’, as it is familiarly called.
Hence ˈteetering vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1845C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 213, I laid a teterin' board over it, so that if you stepped on it, down you went. 1851H. Melville Moby Dick III. xxxviii. 218 The tetering ship loweringly pitched down her bowsprit. 1855― Israel Potter xiv. 147 Israel smote him over the taffrail into the sea, as if the man had fallen backwards over a teetering chair. 1878Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. xxxv, Settled herself..on the back seat of the creaking, tetering old stage on the way to Poganuc. 1884Century Mag. Jan. 359/1 The steady rolling and teetering of the ship. 1936M. Allingham Flowers for Judge xiv. 202 He was lying on his face with a teetering, kicking thing trying to force him through the concrete floor. 1973‘M. Innes’ Appleby's Answer iii. xv. 129 The tea-shop was..kept by teetering old ladies in the interest of their health. 1975in W. Viereck Lexikalische Ergebnisse des Lowman-Survey I. iv. 141 Children also like to play on a..teetering pole. |