teeter

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Related to teetering: wore, nary, busyness, compelling, allegedly, YELD, Inbetween

teeter on the brink of (something)

To be very close to doing something or of having some imminent event happen, especially that which is bad or disastrous. The company is still doing business, but ever since the recession hit, they've been teetering on the brink of closing down. The crew are so maddened by the cuts to their pay that everyone is teetering on the brink of mutiny.
See also: brink, of, on, teeter

teeter on the edge of (something)

To be very close to doing something or of having some imminent event happen, especially that which is bad or disastrous. The company is still doing business, but ever since the recession hit, they've been teetering on the edge of closing down. The crew are so maddened by the cuts to their pay that everyone is teetering on the edge of mutiny.
See also: edge, of, on, teeter

teeter-totter

"Teeter-totter," another name for a seesaw, is a long, balanced plank that two people ride together, one on each end. When one of the riders pushes off the ground with their feet, their end of the plank tilts up into the air. Primarily heard in US.
1. To balance precariously on something. I grabbed Billy the second I noticed him teeter-tottering on the edge of the step.
2. To be in an especially precarious position. The company has teeter-tottered on the edge of financial ruin for the last couple of years.
3. To vacillate between two options, conditions, or situations. Of course the senator is going to teeter-totter on this controversial bill until the last minute. He doesn't want to announce his vote and anger his constituents before he has to.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

teeter on the brink (or edge)

be very close to a difficult or dangerous situation.
1997 James Ryan Dismantling Mr Doyle Letting her secret teeter on the brink of becoming public was a game Eve played more and more.
See also: brink, on, teeter
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

teeter on the ˈbrink/ˈedge of something

be very close to a very unpleasant or dangerous situation: The country is teetering on the brink of civil war.
If something teeters, it stands or moves in an unsteady way as if it is going to fall.
See also: brink, edge, of, on, something, teeter
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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References in periodicals archive ?
An opportunity for those of you who havedrifted away or who are teetering on the brink to make time toattend a serviceat your localchurch to say thank you to God for your very special mum - it's just a thought.
Thought of The Day
This book opens with a gloomy dirge for "a society teetering on the brink of spiritual bankruptcy," unable to "long endure in our present course," and about to lose its chance to live in "cultural harmony with nature." In miniature, that outlines this forest ecologist's foray into philosophy.
Global Imperative: Harmonizing Culture and Nature
The mystery man was seen teetering on a sixinch ledge at least 30ft up a city centre building, without a safety harness.
WINDOW SILLY; Exclusive He cleans on a ledge 30ft up - without a harness
But job growth as well as a seemingly benign slowdown in the housing market has reversed the perception of an economy teetering on the brink.
Industry welcomes job figures
An unending war, a minority group fighting for equal rights, emaciated models teetering on the catwalk: There are many shades of the '60s in the tumultuous early years of the 21st century.
"Blame the Gays" sing-along
Hannibal met and overcame several Roman armies leaving a wide swatch of destruction that included 250,000 dead Roman legionaries, thousands of destroyed horses and pack animals, dozens of razed Roman cities, and brought the Roman Empire to the teetering edge of destruction.
The Elephant Who Crossed the Alps
I felt like I was constantly teetering on the brink of concern and fear of what is coming next.
The Fall of Never
As a whole, the show exuded a sense of madcap melancholy, of whimsy in the face of disaster--perhaps because so many of the works appeared to be teetering on the brink of collapse.
Gedi Sibony: Canada
Waiting and waiting and waiting--eight years of waiting, watching your mom and dad receive the Host, watching wafers travel hand to heart, wondering at the zest and awe of it, waiting for it in your own cupped hands, waiting for the quiver of the Host in the holy cave of your mouth, wondering what it will taste like, wondering what it will be like to have God teetering at the lip of your lips ....
Taste and See
The mathematical equations describing the reaction dynamics are nearly the same ones describing such phenomena as propagating flame fronts inside an engine's piston, the complex and contrary motions of a heart teetering toward cardiac arrest and the ebbs and flows of animal populations, notes Arthur T.
Chemical waves curl around tiny globe
She revealed that her study is now filled with "teetering piles of garbage".
Rowling resolves to tidy up
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