teeter

verb tee·ter \ ˈtē-tər \

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Examples: teeter in a Sentence

Definition of teeter

teetered; teetering; teeters

intransitive verb

1 a : to move unsteadily : wobble

b : waver, vacillate

teetered on the brink of bankruptcy

2 : seesaw

See teeter defined for English-language learners

See teeter defined for kids

Examples of teeter in a Sentence

The pile of books teetered and fell to the floor.
She teetered down the street in her high heels.

Recent Examples of teeter from the Web

Many of these creatures are now teetering on the edge.

— National Geographic, "Ancient Royal Tomb Yields Strange New Ape Species," 21 June 2018
The Puerto Rico power grid is teetering, one government official said, despite $3.8 billion in repairs.

— CBS News, "As hurricane season begins, 11,000 people in Puerto Rico still without power," 1 June 2018
Since 2008, Congress has transferred more than $140 billion from the general fund (i.e., taxes everyone pays) into Highway Trust Fund, which teeters on insolvency because the federal gas tax hasn’t increased since 1993.

— nick stockton, WIRED, "Why Traffic-Choked Nashville Said 'No Thanks' to Public Transit," 9 May 2018
Though this generation’s bookend ages have always teetered, the nonprofit Pew Research Center set the years of birth between 1981 and 1996.

— rick montgomery, chicagotribune.com, "What companies want: millennials. What they’re offering: massages, student loan help," 1 May 2018
Her ability to craft songs which teeter along the lines of Gospel/Christian Pop/Pop , is something that inspires me so much.

— mackenzie cummings-grady, Billboard, "Azealia Banks Releases Bouncy House Track 'Anna Wintour'," 6 Apr. 2018
The President and his Middle East allies, chiefly Saudi Arabia and Israel, clearly believe that with Iran's economy teetering, cutting off its economic lifeline will eventually topple the regime.

— NBC News, "Trump kept his promise on Iran. But was it the right promise?," 9 May 2018
The tough part is admitting that this may only be happening because Cousins is teetering on the edge of irrelevance.

— nathaniel friedman, GQ, "Boogie Cousins Heads for the Bay," 3 July 2018
Iran’s economy is in shambles and its public finances are teetering.

— nawaf e. obaid, WSJ, "The Oil Weapon Can Fell the Ayatollahs," 1 July 2018

These 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.

Origin and Etymology of teeter

Middle English titeren to totter, reel; akin to Old High German zittarōn to shiver

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1844

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

teeter Synonyms

teeter

noun

Definition of teeter

: seesaw 2b

Recent Examples of teeter from the Web

First Suburb by Chana Porter *World Premiere* November 16 – December 19, 2018 Five preteens teeter on the brink of adolescence when a shocking and violent act interrupts their insular world of personal struggles and triumphs.

— wei-huan chen, Houston Chronicle, "Catastrophic Theatre's 2018-19 season features Will Eno and Robert O'Hara," 27 June 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 2018
Illinois teeters on the edge of a recession because union pension obligations are far too high to repay at any tax rate.

— michael hicks, Indianapolis Star, "Hicks: Ruling against public-sector unions makes us freer," 1 July 2018
The bow teeter-totters delicately over two large industrial light bulbs planted in a crude wooden bowl.

— joseph giovannini, New York Times, "Swiss Institute Has a New Home Ready-Made for Art," 28 June 2018
While 29-year-old former Bachelor Ben Higgins falls solidly in the millennial bracket and Old Pillow Lips, born in 1981, teeters right on the edge of Generation Y, Wills would be the first Bachelor lead to actually feel like a millennial.

— refinery29.com, "Can We Start The Wills Reid For Bachelor Campaign Right Now?," 10 July 2018
Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, both men who sandwiched him in office, are dead; George senior teeters; Bill Clinton tremors when tired and, at 71, has begun to fade before our eyes.

— michael paterniti, GQ, "Jimmy Carter for Higher Office," 26 June 2018
Lady Macbeth, meanwhile, becomes overcome with guilt and teeters toward insanity.

— mitchel benson, sacbee, "STC's 'Macbeth' pays proper tribute to the tragedy of murder and madness," 28 Feb. 2018
Zone Out's script, just like Sunspring's, teeters on the edge of inanity and emotion—which, honestly, puts it right up there with the best of the sci-fi canon.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "This wild, AI-generated film is the next step in “whole-movie puppetry”," 11 June 2018