teeter

About 0.18 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. verb To tilt back and forth on an edge.

   He teetered on the brink of the precipice.

2. verb To totter (move unsteadily).
3. verb To be indecisive; to hesitate.

   We teetered on the fence about buying getaway tickets and missed the opportunity.

4. verb To be close to becoming a typically negative situation.

   Despite appearances, the firm was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

5. noun A teeter-totter or seesaw.

Similar words

totter seesaw wobble tottering hart totters titter teeter-totter topple tilt

Often followed by

on and totter between board dobbs in was over

Word family

teetered teetering teeters