teetern.
/ˈtiːtə/, U.S. /ˈtidər/ dialect and U.S.
1. A see-saw; a see-sawing or swaying motion; the game of see-saw; also figurative hesitation between two alternatives, vacillation. Also attributive, teeter-board (spec. in circus use.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > [noun]
yea-and-nayc1384
vacillationc1400
titteringa1413
stackeringc1440
wondingc1440
fluctuationc1450
waver1519
mammering1532
uncertainty1548
wavering1548
to and fro1553
suspense1560
staggering1565
suspension1568
mammery1578
demur1581
branle1591
dilly-dally1592
hesitance1601
irresolution1601
uncertainness1601
undecision1611
waveringness1614
hesitancy1617
unsettledness1619
hesitation1622
unresolvednessa1626
doubleness of minda1628
wavinga1628
swagging1636
poise1637
mambling1640
stickagea1647
vacillancy1668
whifflinga1677
hovering1679
unresolve1679
irresoluteness1686
shilly-shally1755
indecisiona1763
undecisiveness1779
indecisiveness1793
oscillation1798
flexility1815
shilly-shallying1842
swaying1850
Hamletism1852
teeter1855
havering1866
off and on1875
dilly-dallying1879
double-mindedness1881
hesitatingness1890
dither1958
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > see-saw > [noun]
merry-totter1440
wild mare1600
titter-totter1790
see-saw1824
highty-tighty1825
rantipole1854
teeter1855
joggling-board1883
teeter-totter1959
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > [noun] > see-sawing
see-saw1704
see-sawing1793
teeter1855
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > state of uncertainty, suspense > [noun] > uncertainty about alternatives
balancing1597
pendulousness1641
pendulum1765
teeter1855
1855 Knickerbocker 46 88 We were having a grand time with our ‘teeter’-boards upon the highest fence.
1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. ii. i. 74 I tell you you've gut to larn thet War ain't one long teeter Betwixt I wan' to an' 'T wunt du.
1863 Harper's Mag. Aug. 343/2 Teeters to jump on, rings to swing by.
1883 U.S. Patent 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.
1887 F. T. Havergal Herefordshire Words 34 ‘All on the teater’.
1895 N. Brit. Daily Mail 15 Oct. 5 The ‘teter’ or undulating motion..in the present cars is entirely got rid of.
1897 Chicago 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.
1965 Sun 26 Oct. 5/1 The Seven Halasi, a Hungarian family using teeter boards.
1979 Times 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa macularia
jack snipe1664
grassbird?1740
spotted snipe1785
rock-bird1792
peetweet1838
teeter1844
teeter-tail1917
1844 J. E. De Kay Zool. N.-Y. ii. 247 The Spotted Sand-Lark..is known..[as] Teeter and Tiltup, from its often repeated grotesque jerking motions.
1848 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms 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.
1895 Outing 27 69/2 The ‘teeter’ is fat and well flavored.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
teeterv.
/ˈtiːtə/, U.S. /ˈtidər/ 1. intransitive.
a. To see-saw. dialect and U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > see-saw > [verb (intransitive)]
teeter1843
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (intransitive)] > see-saw
see-saw1712
tittera1825
titter-tottera1825
tilter1825
teeter1843
1843 H. B. Stowe Mayflower 47 Then he was tetering [1855 ed.: teetering] with her on a long board.
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. Teeter.., to seesaw on a balanced plank, as children, for amusement. (U.S.)
1847 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > unsteadily
wiggle?c1225
walter1399
falterc1400
stammerc1400
dotterc1475
stavera1500
stumblea1500
reel1529
scamblec1571
halper1596
totter1602
folder1607
wamble1611
to make a Virginia fence1671
wandle1686
fribble1709
rock1718
stoit1719
stoiter1724
swagger1724
doddle1761
stotter1781
toit1786
doiter1793
stot1801
dodder1819
twaddle1823
teeter1844
shoggle1884
welter1884
warple1887
whemmel1895
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > move unsteadily [verb (intransitive)]
hobblec1330
wave1406
stamperc1450
fleet15..
titubate1540
wamble1589
tilt1594
vacillate1598
waggle1611
wimple1819
wangle1820
waver1841
lurch1851
woggle1871
teeter1904
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > move unsteadily [verb (intransitive)] > totter
shake1297
waive1338
wagc1340
falterc1386
waverc1440
branglea1522
totterc1522
wave1538
swerve1573
nod1582
tittera1618
cockle1634
labascate1727
teeter1904
oversway1994
1844 ‘J. Slick’ High Life N.Y. II. 231 I teetered up tu her a tiptoe.
c1850 ‘Dow, Jr.’ Short Patent Serm. I. 184 You tip and teeter about, thinking that you excite the admiration of all.
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 201 The peetweets..‘teter’ along its stony shores all summer.
1888 J. 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.
1904 W. Churchill Crossing II. xiv. 422 I felt the ground teetering under my feet.
1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. (Essex) A watch~maker said of a wheel of which the pivot was bent, ‘It teeters’.
1907 Black Cat June 25 [He] called back to the figure teter-tottering with the bowing of the log it rode.
1943 C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter (new ed.) i. 29 They helped Blount to his feet. He teetered weakly.
1950 R. Macaulay World my Wilderness vii. 66 The iron spokes swung teetering and creaking in the breeze.
1961 B. Pym No Fond Return of Love xii. 111 Marian left the house, teetering down the path to the bus stop on her stiletto heels.
1973 O. Sacks Awakenings 35 Miss D. would teeter forward in tiny rapid steps.
1982 T. Berger Reinhart's Women ii. 35 ‘I'll teeter on the curb,’ said Reinhart, ‘and try not to fall into the gutter.’
c. Also figurative, esp. in to teeter on the brink and variant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)]
haltc825
flecchec1300
waverc1315
flickerc1325
wag1387
swervea1400
floghter1521
stacker1526
to be of (occasionally in) many (also divers) minds1530
wave1532
stagger1533
to hang in the wind1536
to waver as, like, with the wind1548
mammer1554
sway1563
dodge1568
erch1584
suspend1585
float1598
swag1608
hoverc1620
hesitate1623
vacillate1623
fluctuate1634
demur1641
balance1656
to be at shall I, shall I (not)1674
to stand shall I, shall I1674
to go shill-I shall-I1700
to stand at shilly-shally1700
to act, to keep (upon), the volanta1734
whiffle1737
dilly-dally1740
to be in (also of, occasionally on) two minds (also in twenty minds, in (also of) several minds, etc.)1751
oscillate1771
shilly-shally1782
dacker1817
librate1822
humdrum1825
swing1833
(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1848
to back and fill1854
haver1866
wobble1867
shaffle1873
dicker1879
to be on the weigh-scales1886
waffle1894
to think twice1898
to teeter on the brink1902
dither1908
vagulate1918
pern1920
the world > relative properties > relationship > similarity > render similar to [verb (transitive)] > approach, approximate, or border upon
to stand by ——?1527
to prick near1565
board1596
touch?1614
approximate1671
approacha1699
neighbour1859
to teeter on the brink1937
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > face danger [verb (intransitive)] > be in danger > be at risk or in a precarious position
stacker1402
periclitate1581
to stand on a rolling stone1581
to lie upon the wager1590
tottera1616
concern1659
to tread on eggs, on delicate ground, on thin icea1734
tremblea1862
to skate over (or on) thin ice1897
to teeter on the brink1937
1902 A. H. Lewis Wolfville Nights xvii. 259 A quorum of the committee is away teeterin' about in their own affairs.
1930 Punch 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.
1949 Times 29 Sept. 5/2 The Government..still tremble and teeter on the verge.
1958 Daily Sketch 2 June 13/7 He effectively suggested an officer teetering on the edge of sanity.
1979 C. James Pillars of Hercules i. i. 25 He was teetering on the verge of declaring himself outright.
1980 D. Adams Restaurant at End of Universe iii. 25 Zaphod felt he was teetering on the edge of madness.
1983 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 23 July 279/2 Subsistence farming is widespread with nutrition teetering on the inadequate.
2. transitive. To move (anything) with a see-saw motion; to tip up and down, to tilt. To see-saw. dialect and U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > oscillate [verb (transitive)] > cause to see-saw
see-saw1753
teeter1874
1874 E. Coues Birds Northwest 30 All the while ‘teetering’ its body, and performing odd, nervous antics.
1906 Daily 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.
1907 Black Cat June 36 As he teetered the fretting baby on his knee.
Compounds
teeter-tail n. the American sandpiper: = teeter n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa macularia
jack snipe1664
grassbird?1740
spotted snipe1785
rock-bird1792
peetweet1838
teeter1844
teeter-tail1917
1917 Dial. Notes 4 424 The spotted sandpiper..also called swee-swee, teeter-tail.
1937 National Geographic 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.
Derivatives
ˈteetering n. and adj. = teeter-board at teeter n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [noun]
yawinga1614
vacillation1633
titubation1643
wambling1680
teetering1845
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > [adjective]
waveringc1540
tilting1606
titubating1653
volatile1654
tittering1661
drunken1786
wavery1820
vacillating1822
joggly1828
yawing1835
teetering1845
wambly1857
pecky1864
drunk1881
teetery1900
wambling1908
1845 C. M. Kirkland Western Clearings 213 I laid a teterin' board over it, so that if you stepped on it, down you went.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick cxxiv. 569 The tetering ship loweringly pitched down her bowsprit.
1855 H. Melville Israel Potter xiv. 147 Israel smote him over the taffrail into the sea, as if the man had fallen backwards over a teetering chair.
1878 H. B. Stowe Poganuc People xxxv. 337 Settled herself..on the back seat of the creaking, tetering old stage on the way to Poganuc.
1884 Cent. Mag. Jan. 359/1 The steady rolling and teetering of the ship.
1936 M. 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.
1975 in W. Viereck Lexikalische Ergebnisse des Lowman-Survey I. iv. 141 Children also like to play on a..teetering pole.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1844
v.1843