totter

Meanings

Verb

• To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.
• To be on the brink of collapse.
• To collect junk or scrap.

Noun

• An unsteady movement or gait.
• A rag and bone man.

Related

Similar words

• reel, teeter, toddle, stagger, sway

Origin

• From Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare dialectal English tolter; Scots tolter), from Old English tealtrian, from Proto-Germanic *taltrōną, a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *taltōną, from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul-. Cognate with Dutch touteren, Norwegian dialectal totra, North Frisian talt, tolt. Related to tilt.