teeter
verb
tee·ter
| \ ˈtē-tər
\
\
teetered;
teetering;
teeters
Definition of teeter
(Entry 1 of 2)
2
: seesaw
teeter
nounDefinition of teeter (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for teeter
Synonyms: Verb
falter, rock, totter, waver, wobble (also wabble)
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Examples of teeter in a Sentence
Verb
The pile of books teetered and fell to the floor. She teetered down the street in her high heels.Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
The impact on the British economy, which is already teetering near recession, could indeed be severe. — The Economist, "Boris Johnson suspends Parliament, causing uproar," 29 Aug. 2019 Germany and the United Kingdom have reported shrinking growth, and economists fear both are teetering on the brink of a recession. — Taylor Telford, Washington Post, "Trump’s trade war comes for consumers: Tariffs could cost U.S. families up to $1,000 a year, JP Morgan forecasts," 20 Aug. 2019 The slight gentleman in a burgundy suit teetered onto the marble floor one pointy-toed boot at a time. — Christina Tkacik, baltimoresun.com, "‘The Baltimore way’: It took a half-century for Andre De Shields to earn a Tony. He’s back to celebrate," 19 Aug. 2019 The inverted yield curve looks set to be a global phenomenon, with major Asian debt markets primed to mirror the moves in Treasuries as fears grow that the world economy is teetering on the brink of a recession. — Masaki Kondo, Fortune, "The Inverted Yield Curve Looks Set to Go Global," 15 Aug. 2019 Scientists believe the massive glacier is teetering on the brink of collapse, though just how fast that could happen remains an open question. — Adam Rogers, WIRED, "A Submarine Goes Under a Failing Glacier to Gauge Rising Seas," 6 Aug. 2019 The book, part memoir, part fiction, is a guide to the Ides of 50, a stage of life when kids depart (along with most of the local estrogen), marriages teeter and normally accommodating women stop being so accommodating. — Susanna Schrobsdorff, Time, "'Is 55 Too Old to Go on Tinder?' What Dating Looks Like for the Middle-Aged," 6 Aug. 2019 While the festival clearly teetered on disaster throughout, generational camaraderie and sensibility supposedly kept it stable. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Why Woodstock Can Never Happen Again," 6 Aug. 2019 Since their debut in the pages of DC Comics in 1963, the Doom Patrol has always been an odd, under-the-radar franchise teetering back and forth between a traditional super-ensemble and a journey into the bizarre. — Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, "Superheroes behaving badly: 12 crusading TV series target mature audiences," 4 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Even John Woo has been known to punch through seriousness and on into giddy bombast in films like Face/Off, where Nicolas Cage and John Travolta teeter on the edge of self-parody, and then gleefully jump off that edge, guns blazing. — Noah Berlatsky, The Verge, "Netflix’s Wu Assassins series lacks the Hong Kong cinema magic," 8 Aug. 2019 Their idea finally came to life at an event Monday in Sunland Park, New Mexico, when three bright pink seesaws or teeter-totters were added to the giant steel border wall. — Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, "California professors install seesaws along U.S.-Mexico border wall," 30 July 2019 This recommendation teeters above freezing — no ice crystals or frozen foods here! — yet below the danger zone. — Nicole Papantoniou, Good Housekeeping, "How to Make Sure Your Refrigerator Is Actually at a Safe Temperature," 29 July 2019 The fire damaged an X-Wave teeter-totter and Ring Trek equipment, Stenehjem said. — Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News, "Teen arrested in playground fire at East Anchorage elementary school that caused $100,000 in damage," 27 July 2019 There will also be a 4-foot grade change that will include hill slides and hill play, two 12-foot towers with climbing features and tunnel slides, an at-grade spinner, accessible teeter-totter, accessible zip line, swing set and a toddler playhouse. — Cathy Kozlowicz, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "After 10 years of planning, a new playground, pavilion and splash pad in Sussex are breaking ground," 17 July 2019 The moon also dampens the amount that Earth teeters on its axis, helping to keep our climate more stable. — National Geographic, "Why does Earth have a moon, and how does it affect our planet?," 3 July 2019 Built in the atrium of the Hangzhou Star Avenue Mall, the Neobio Family Park makes the teeter-totters and merry-go-rounds of the past feel like ancient toys. — Liz Stinson, Curbed, "Feast your eyes on this next-level indoor park," 14 Aug. 2018 Instead of stitching the hipbelt to the back panel, Kelty feeds it behind the lumbar pad and allows it a few millimeters of movement, as if each wing of the hipbelt were a playground teeter-totter. — Kelly Bastone, Outside Online, "The Best Women’s Backpacking Packs," 13 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'teeter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for teeter
teeter
verb
English Language Learners Definition of teeter
: to move in an unsteady way back and forth or from side to side
See the full definition for teeter in the English Language Learners Dictionary
teeter
verb
tee·ter
| \ ˈtē-tər
\
\
teetered;
teetering
Kids Definition of teeter
: to move unsteadily back and forth or from side to side
Ramona mounted the bicycle and … teetered and wobbled to the corner without falling off.— Beverly Cleary, Ramona Quimby
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