dodder

Definition

To shake or tremble as one moves, especially as of old age or childhood; to totter.

Etymology

From Middle English daderen (“to quake, tremble”). Compare Norwegian dudra (“to tremble”).

Example Sentences

• "Yossarian responded to the thought by slipping away stealthily from the police and almost tripped over the feet of a burly woman of forty hastening across the intersection guiltily, darting furtive, vindictive glances behind her toward a woman of eighty with thick, bandaged ankles doddering after her in a losing pursuit."
• "Their neighbours have been, on one side, an old man who dodders around in his dressing gown talking to himself, and on the other a stand-offish couple who pretend not to understand the Spanish he speaks."