Totter

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: tot=ter

CIDE DICTIONARY

Totter, v. i. [Probably for older tolter; cf. AS. tealtrian to totter, vacillate. Cf.Tilt to incline, Toddle, Tottle, Totty.].

•  To shake so as to threaten a fall; to vacillate; to be unsteady; to stagger; as, an old man totters with age.  Ps. lxii. 3.  [1913 Webster]
•  To shake; to reel; to lean; to waver.  [1913 Webster]

  "Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Totter, v. & n.
--v.intr.
1 stand or walk unsteadily or feebly (tottered out of the pub).
2 a (of a building etc.) shake or rock as if about to collapse. b (of a system of government etc.) be about to fall.
--n. an unsteady or shaky movement or gait.

Derivative

totterer n. tottery adj.

Etymology

ME f. MDu. touteren to swing

THESAURUS

Totter

age, alternate, amble, back and fill, barge, blunder, bowl along, break down, bundle, capsize, careen, career, cave in, change, cheat the undertaker, claudicate, clump, collapse, come a cropper, cower, crawl, creep, decline, dither, dodder, dogtrot, drag, drag along, drag out, droop, ebb and flow, equivocate, fade, fail, fall, fall down, fall flat, fall headlong, fall in, fall over, fall prostrate, falter, flounce, flounder, fluctuate, foot, footslog, founder, gait, gallop, get a cropper, get along, get on, go dead slow, go slow, go through phases, grow old, halt, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hop, idle, inch, inch along, jog, jog-trot, jolt, jump, labor, laze, limp, list, lock step, lumber, lunge, lurch, mince, mincing steps, mosey, oscillate, pace, paddle, peg, pendulate, piaffe, piaffer, pitch, pitch and plunge, plod, plunge, poke, poke along, prance, quake, quiver, rack, reel, ring the changes, rock, roll, sashay, saunter, scuff, scuffle, scuttle, seesaw, seethe, shake, shamble, shift, shilly-shally, shimmy, shiver, shrivel, shuffle, shuffle along, sidle, single-foot, sink, skip, slink, slither, slog, slouch, slowness, sprawl, spread-eagle, stagger, stagger along, stalk, stammer, stamp, step, stomp, straddle, straggle, stride, stroll, strolling gait, struggle, strut, stumble, stump, swagger, sway, swing, take a fall, take a flop, take a header, take a pratfall, take a spill, teeter, teeter-totter, tergiversate, thrash about, tilt, tittup, toddle, toddle along, topple, topple over, toss, toss and tumble, toss and turn, totter along, traipse, tread, tremble, trip, trot, trudge, tumble, turn, turn gray, turn turtle, turn white, vacillate, vary, velocity, volutation, waddle, walk, wallop, wallow, wamble, wane, waste away, waver, wax and wane, welter, wheel, wiggle, wither, wizen, wobble, worm, worm along, wrinkle

ROGET THESAURUS

Totter

Deterioration

VB be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated Adj, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate.

N deterioration, debasement, wane, ebb, recession, retrogradation, decrease, degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness, degradation, depravation, depravement, devolution, depravity, demoralization, retrogression, masochism, impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath, perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy, decline, declension, declination, decadence, decadency, falling off, caducity, decrepitude, decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear, corrosion, erosion, moldiness, rottenness, moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse, disorganization, delabrement (destruction), aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron, vinefretter, vinegrub, wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra, jade, plug, rackabones, skate, tackey, tacky, have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off, wane, ebb, retrograde, decline, droop, go down, go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal, lapse, be the worse for, sphacelate: break, break down, spring a leak, crack, start, shrivel, fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad, go to decay, fall into decay, fall into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake, totter, totter to its fall, perish, die, deteriorate, weaken, put back, set back, taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate, debase, embase, denaturalize, denature, leaven, deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade, ulcerate, stain, discolor, alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice, pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize, render vicious, embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate, injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste, overrun, ravage, pillage, wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp, blight, rot, corrode, erode, wear away, wear out, gnaw, gnaw at the root of, sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up, disorganize, dismantle, dismast, destroy, damnify, do one's worst, knock down, deal a blow to, play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among, decimate, Adj, unimproved &c (improve), deteriorated, altered, altered for the worse, injured, sprung, withering, spoiling, on the wane, on the decline, tabid, degenerate, marescent, worse, the worse for, all the worse for, out of repair, out of tune, imperfect, the worse for wear, battered, weathered, weather-beaten, stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare, worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags, reduced, reduced to a skeleton, far gone, tacky, decayed, moth-eaten, worm-eaten, mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown, discolored, effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted, depraved, decrepid, decrepit, broke, busted, broken, out of commission, hors de combat, out of action, broken down, done, done for, done up, worn out, used up, finished, beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work, at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs, undermined, deciduous, nodding to its fall, tottering, past cure, fatigued, retrograde, deleterious, out of the frying pan into the fire, agrescit medendo, what a falling off was there!.

Danger

VB be in danger, be exposed to danger, run into danger, incur danger, encounter danger, run a risk, lay oneself open to, lean on a broken reed, trust to a broken reed, feel the ground sliding from under one, have to run for it, have the chances against one, have the odds against one, face long odds, be in deep trouble, be between a rock and a hard place, hang by a thread, totter, sleep on a volcano, stand on a volcano, sit on a barrel of gunpowder, live in a glass house, bring in danger, place in danger, put in danger, place in jeopardy, put in jeopardy, endanger, expose to danger, imperil, jeopard, jeopardize, compromise, sail too near the wind, adventure, risk, hazard, venture, stake, set at hazard, run the gauntlet, engage in a forlorn hope, threaten danger, run one hard, lay a trap for.

Changeableness

VB fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble, turn and turn about, ring the changes, sway to and fro, shift to and fro, change and change about, waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute), oscillate, vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes, alternate, have as man phases as the moon.

Weakness

VB be weak, drop, crumble, give way, totter, tremble, shake, halt, limp, fade, languish, decline, flag, fail, have one leg in the grave, render weak, weaken, enfeeble, debilitate, shake, deprive of strength, relax, enervate, eviscerate, unbrace, unnerve, cripple, unman, cramp, reduce, sprain, strain, blunt the edge of, dilute, impoverish, decimate, extenuate, reduce in strength, reduce the strength of, mettre de l'eau dans son vin.

Oscillation

VB oscillate, vibrate, librate, alternate, undulate, wave, rock, swing, pulsate, beat, wag, waggle, nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy, tick, play, wamble, wabble, dangle, swag, fluctuate, dance, curvet, reel, quake, quiver, quaver, shake, flicker, wriggle, roll, toss, pitch, flounder, stagger, totter, move up and down, bob up and down, pass and repass, ebb and flow, come and go, vacillate, teeter, brandish, shake, flourish.

Agitation

VB be agitated, shake, tremble, tremble like an aspen leaf, quiver, quaver, quake, shiver, twitter, twire, writhe, toss, shuffle, tumble, stagger, bob, reel, sway, wag, waggle, wriggle, wriggle like an eel, dance, stumble, shamble, flounder, totter, flounce, flop, curvet, prance, cavort, squirm, throb, pulsate, beat, palpitate, go pitapat, flutter, flitter, flicker, bicker, bustle, ferment, effervesce, foam, boil, boil over, bubble up, simmer, toss about, jump about, jump like a parched pea, shake like an aspen leaf, shake to its center, shake to its foundations, be the sport of the winds and waves, reel to and fro like a drunken man, move from post to pillar and from pillar to post, drive from post to pillar and from pillar to post, keep between hawk and buzzard, agitate, shake, convulse, toss, tumble, bandy, wield, brandish, flap, flourish, whisk, jerk, hitch, jolt, jog, joggle, jostle, buffet, hustle, disturb, stir, shake up, churn, jounce, wallop, whip, vellicate.