teeter
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++tee·ter /ˈtiːtə $ -ər/ verb [intransitive] 1 BALANCEto stand or walk moving from side to side, as if you are going to fall 站立不稳；摇摇欲坠；蹒跚行走 She teetered along in her high-heeled shoes. 她穿着高跟鞋踉踉跄跄地走着。2 be teetering on the brink/edge of something ALMOSTto be very close to being in an unpleasant or dangerous situation 濒临〔糟糕或危险的局势〕 The country teetered on the brink of war. 该国濒临战争边缘。→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
teeter• Invariably our toes are unnaturally cramped into odd-shaped shoes and the feet raised because we choose to teeter around in high heels!• Gilling's ability to teeter between fantasy and plausibility recalls Dickens.What he imagines is equal to anything Prospero might have conjured.• The kegs shifted, teetered, fell!• If it were as bad as its critics contend, our society would be teetering on the edge of extinction.• Wednesday morning, during an hourlong session with reporters, Forbes appeared to be teetering on the edge of folding his campaign.• As the piece opens, he is in an internment camp, and she is teetering on the edge of madness.• And rather than treading the boards ... they were teetering two feet above them.Origin teeter (1800-1900) titter “to move unsteadily” ((14-20 centuries))tee·ter verbChineseSyllable
as side or moving if side, Corpus to from to walk stand
teeter
tee‧ter /ˈtiːtə $ -ər/
verb [intransitive]
She teetered along in her high-heeled shoes.
2. be teetering on the brink/edge of something to be very close to being in an unpleasant or dangerous situation:
The country teetered on the brink of war.
tee‧ter /ˈtiːtə $ -ər/
verb [intransitive] Date: 1800-1900
Origin: titter 'to move unsteadily' (14-20 centuries)
1. to stand or walk moving from side to side, as if you are going to fall:Origin: titter 'to move unsteadily' (14-20 centuries)
2. be teetering on the brink/edge of something to be very close to being in an unpleasant or dangerous situation:
