stoiter, v. Sc. and north.
(ˈstɔɪtə(r))
[Frequentative f. stoit v. Cf. north. dial. stotter, stauter, stowter in similar senses (see Eng. Dial. Dict.).]
intr. To swerve from side to side in walking; to walk with staggering or tottering steps; also with up.
| c 1730 Ramsay Vision xix, They stoyter hame to sleip. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars xvi, At length wi' drink and courting dizzy, He stoiter'd up and made a face. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 91 Now wi' a staff about the dykes, He stoiters, auld, and beld and wan. 1893–4 Stevenson Heathercat ii, Poor, blind, besotted creature—and I see you stoytering on the brink of dissolution. |
Hence ˈstoitering ppl. a., staggering, tottering. Also stoiter n., a stumble; phr. to play stoiter, to stagger.
| 1789 R. Fergusson Poems II. 86 Till he can lend the stoitering state a lift Wi' gowd in gowpins as a grassum gift. a 1838 Rodger Poems, Colin Dulap 59 While wauchlin' alang between sober and fou, Wi' a stoiter to this side, to that side a stap. 1890 J. Service Thir Notandums vi. 31 Laird Speckie played stoiter to a corner and fell asleep. |