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▪ I. totter, n.1|ˈtɒtə(r)|
Forms: 4–5 totre, 5 totyr, totoure, 6– totter.
[f. totter v. Cf. Flem., Du. (and WFris.) touter in sense 1.]
†1. A swing; a board suspended by two ropes, on which a person sits and is swung to and fro.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 387 Whan men [fel] of þe totres and were i-herte sore, it was ordeyned among hem þat images i-liche to þe bodies schulde be sette in þe totros, and meue and totery in stede of hem þat were a-falle. Þat game is cleped ocillum in Latyn. c1440Promp. Parv. 498/1 Totyr, or myry totyr, chylderys game.., oscillum. 1468Medulla Gram., Oscillum, genus ludi, cum funis suspenditur a trabe in quo pueri et puelle sedentes impelluntur huc et illuc,—a totoure. Petaurus, quidam ludus, a totre. 1483Cath. Angl. 390/2 A mery Totyr (A. A Totyr), petaurus, & cetera. 1552Huloet, Totter playe, betwene two bell ropes to tottre to and fro, petaurum.
2. The action, or an act, of tottering; wavering, oscillation; an unsteady or shaky movement or gait as of one ready to fall.
1747E. Poston Pratler I. 1 My Mind is so on the Totter between For and Against. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 109 ⁋8, I..had his bend in my shoulders, and his totter in my gait. 1830Chron. in Ann. Reg. 35/2 He seemed all of a totter and tremble. 1898Watts-Dunton Aylwin ii. iv, Without raising an arm to balance her body, without a totter or a slip.
3. attrib. and Comb. (or from the verb-stem), as totter-arse, † (a) the game of see-saw; = titter-totter 1; (b) one who totters (dial.); totter-grass, quaking-grass, Briza media, or sometimes another grass with slender stalk; ˈtotter-ˌheaded a., light-headed, frivolous, changeful; totter-kneed a., yielding, ‘weak-kneed’.
1611Cotgr., Baccoler, to play at titter-totter, or at *totter-arse; to ride the wild Mare; as children who sitting vpon both ends of a long Pole, or Timber-log (supported only in the middle) lift one another vp and downe. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., I ant a-zeed no such two double totterarse 'is longful time.
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 198 And *totter-grass, in many a trembling knot. 1909Spectator 10 July 48/2 The ox-eye daisies white among the totter-grass and sorrel.
1662Petty Taxes ii. §14 The things which cause animosities among the *totter-headed multitude.
1887G. Meredith Ballads & P., Whimper of Sympathy, The feelings of the *totterknee'd.
▪ II. totter, n.2
see tot n.5
▪ III. † totter, a. Obs. rare—1.
In 4 totyre.
[If genuine, goes with totter v. (but it may be a copyist's error for tolter).]
Tottering, shaky, unstable, insecure.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxviii. (Margaret) 42 Þe wikit warld scho ourcom als, Þat ay is totyre, fekil, & fals.
▪ IV. totter, v.|ˈtɒtə(r)|
Also 3–5 toter, 6 tottre.
[Appears first c 1200; has the form of a frequentative from a stem tot-, expressing instability or unstable movement. Perh. from Norse: cf. Norw. dial. tutra, totra to quiver, shake (Ross), Sw. dial tuttra (Rietz). The sense is found in Flem. & Du. touteren to swing, though it is difficult to connect this phonologically: cf. tolter v.]
†1. intr. To swing to and fro, esp. at the end of a rope; fig. to waver, vacillate. Obs.
c1200Vices & Virtues 135 Ne mid fote sitten toterinde. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 387 Men of Athene heng vp ropes in þe ayer and men totrede þeron and meued hider and þider [orig. huc et illuc agitabantur]. 1387[see totter n.1 1]. c1440Promp. Parv. 498/1 Toteron, or waveron, vacillo. 1552[see totter n.1 1]. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 47 It should seem that before the breaking of the yolke, that the yolke did hang playing or tottering within the white. 1601Shakes. All's Well i. iii. 129 Manie likelihoods..which hung so tottring in the ballance.
†b. spec. To swing from the gallows, to be hanged. Obs.
c1530Hickscorner B ij b, That is a knauysshe sight to se them totter on a beme. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 122 Diogenes..had a greate zele..to see theim euery one swyngyng & tottreyng in halters. 1556J. Heywood Spider & F. xv. 13 If they be had, they shall hang therupone, And yet if they totter twenty togyther, Still do theeues rob there. 1623–33Fletcher & Shirley Night-Walker iii. v, I would lose a limb, to see their rogueships totter.
†c. To play at see-saw. Cf. titter-totter.
1530Palsgr. 760/1, I totter to and fro, as chylder do whan they play.., je ballance... Totter nat to moche leste you fall.
†2. To move up and down or to and fro, as a ship on the waves; to toss, to pitch. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 233 Þenne þaȝ her takel were torne, þat totered on yþez. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 4294 Other..In the water swam and flotered, And there schippis a-boute totered. 1596Edward III, iii. i. 170 Then might ye see the reeling vessels split, And tottering sink into the ruthlesse floud.
3. To rock or shake to and fro on its base, as if about to overbalance or collapse; † in quot. c 1400, to tremble.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 9717 Thei sat toterynge as it were gece—What for the strokes & the hete. 1522More De Quat. Noviss. Wks. 99 The hands trimbling..and the feete totteryng. 1576G. Pettie Petite Pallace 33 As a tree hewen downe with axes, redy to fal.., tottereth euery way, being vncertayne which way to fal. 1697Dryden æneid ii. 384 Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall. 1775Sheridan St. Patr. Day ii. ii, I was..taken with a sudden giddiness, and Humphrey seeing me beginning to totter, ran to my assistance. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xxx, Her main⁓mast was seen to totter, and then to fall over the side.
b. fig. or in fig. context.
1610Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 8 If th'other two be brain'd like vs, the State totters. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. Wks. 1851 III. 100 So long as the Church is mounted upon the Prelaticall Cart..it will but shake and totter. 1719Young Revenge iv. i, O forbear! You totter on the very brink of ruin. a1774Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 173 Their faith..will be apt to shake and totter grievously in the storms of opposition. 1874Green Short Hist. v. §1. 221 From the day of Cressy feudalism tottered slowly but surely to its grave.
†c. To oscillate, vibrate, rock (without any notion of falling). Obs. rare.
1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xi. 27 The use of which bones, is to hinder that the valve do not easily totter. 1678Moxon Mech. Exerc. iv. 64 Not letting the Plain totter to or from you-wards.
4. To walk or move with unsteady steps; to go shakily or feebly; to toddle; also, to walk with difficulty; to reel, stagger.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. i. Wks. 1856 I. 17 He totterd from the reeling decke. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 489 Chinese women..may be said to totter rather than to walk. 1797Downing Disorders Horned Cattle, etc. 106 When the staggers and convulsive symptoms arise, the horse..is feeble, reels and totters about as he moves. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xix, The old blind woman arose, assumed her staff,..tottering to her hut. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 280 Three niggers staggering after us with as much as ever they could totter under.
b. trans. (nonce-uses.) (a) To make (one's way) totteringly. (b) To carry with tottering steps.
1846Mrs. Gore Eng. Char. (1852) 57 Poor Corney tottered his way from the miserable cellar of St. Giles's..towards the fashionable quarter of the town. 1864Lowell Fireside Trav. 280 After our little bearers [mules] had tottered us up and down the dusky steeps.
†5. trans. To cause to shake to and fro, to rock; to render unstable. Also fig. Obs.
1615T. Adams White Devill 45 There is some disobedient and fugitive Jonasses that thus totter our ship. a1625Fletcher Hum. Lieut. i. i, Earthquakes To shake and totter my designs. a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. Prol. 7 He..totter'd it, lifted it,..transpos'd it, transplaced it. |