teeter
Americanverb (used without object)
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to move unsteadily.
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to ride a seesaw; teetertotter.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a seesaw motion; wobble.
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a seesaw; teetertotter.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has teeteredperfect 3rd person singular
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have teeteredperfect
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is teeteringprogressive 3rd person singular
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teeteringparticiple
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teeterssingular 3rd person
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are teeteringprogressive
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has been teeteringperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am teeteringprogressive 1st person singular
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have been teeteringperfect progressive
Past
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had teeteredperfect
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were teeteringprogressive plural
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teeteredsimple
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teeteredparticiple
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had been teeteringperfect progressive
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was teeteringprogressive singular
Future
Etymology
Origin of teeter
1835–45; variant of dial. titter, Middle English titeren < Old Norse titra tremble; cognate with German zittern to tremble, quiver
Explanation
To teeter is to waver or sway a bit from lack of balance. When people first learn to ride a bicycle, they inevitably teeter for a while before becoming more skilled and confident. A beginning gymnast will teeter on the balance beam, and anyone who's not accustomed to high-heeled shoes will teeter as they walk in them. Figuratively, you might even teeter, or hesitate, between two hard choices. A "teeter-totter," or seesaw, is a playground toy for two people, a long board fixed on a center support, designed so that when one kid is down, the other is up.
Vocabulary lists containing teeter
The Egypt Game
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Purple Hibiscus
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Charlotte's Web
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Crisis strikes the kitchen when our forgotten, shelved-away ingredients teeter on the fine line between fresh and spoiled.
From Salon • May 30, 2026
The characters in her novels long for stability in landscapes where the past is forever intruding on the present—they teeter on the shifting border between perception and fact.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
If it can’t get payments from tenants quickly enough to cover its debt needs, the company’s business model could teeter.
From Barron's • Sep. 30, 2025
"I'm constantly trying to teeter on, you know, 'are people over the old stuff? Do they want new stuff?'"
From BBC • May 30, 2025
Sometimes the outcome really does teeter and hang in the balance.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
