1. (

• totter ,

) move without being stable, as if threatening to fall; "The drunk man tottered over to our table" ;

2. (

• toddle ,
• coggle ,
• totter ,
• dodder ,
• paddle ,
• waddle

) walk unsteadily; "small children toddle" ;

3. (

• teeter ,
• seesaw ,
• totter

) move unsteadily, with a rocking motion ;

1. (

• tottering ,
• tottery

) unsteady in gait as from infirmity or old age; "a tottering skeleton of a horse"; "a tottery old man" ;

2. (

• tottering

) (of structures or institutions) having lost stability; failing or on the point of collapse; "a tottering empire" ;