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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Verb
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited a southern town in Sicily on Wednesday that has been left teetering on the edge of a cliff after days of heavy rains from a cyclone triggered a huge landslide that brought down properties and forced the evacuation of over 1,500 people.—Arkansas Online, 29 Jan. 2026 Turkey’s inflation soared past 80%, the lira collapsed against the dollar and the economy teetered on the edge of catastrophe.—Frank Holmes, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
Noun
The Sandlot’s picture of adolescence teeters between awkward and awesome.—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Dec. 2025 The offense teeters on becoming too reliant on the pass.—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 22 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for teeter
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English titeren to totter, reel; akin to Old High German zittarōn to shiver