Library / English Dictionary

TOTTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move unsteadily, with a rocking motion

Synonyms:

seesaw; teeter; totter

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "totter" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Walk unsteadily

Example:

small children toddle

Synonyms:

coggle; dodder; paddle; toddle; totter; waddle

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "totter" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children totter to the playground

Derivation:

totterer (someone who walks unsteadily as if about to fall)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move without being stable, as if threatening to fall

Example:

The drunk man tottered over to our table

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "totter" is one way to...):

rock; shake; sway (move back and forth or sideways)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

I tottered, and on regaining my equilibrium retired back a step or two from his chair.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He rose from his chair, and leaning heavily upon his two supporters, he tottered across the room to the dust-covered sideboard.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We were just at the little bridge, by good fortune; and I helped her, tottering as she was, to the edge of the bank, where, sure enough, she gave a sigh and fell on my shoulder.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He could hardly totter.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And really, I do not think the impression will soon be over, said Emma, as she crossed the low hedge, and tottering footstep which ended the narrow, slippery path through the cottage garden, and brought them into the lane again.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Once it tottered, about to fall back, but the broken hold was regained and it still went up.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Martin guided her tottering footsteps to a chair, from where she watched him with bulging eyes.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This having been administered at a neighbouring public-house, he conducted me, with tottering steps, to the Misses Spenlow's door.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Mush on, poor sore feets,” the driver encouraged them as they tottered down the main street of Skaguay.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The sun rose brightly, and all morning the man tottered and fell toward the ship on the shining sea.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)