totter, n.

[Douglas G. Wilson]

 >>Howcum it's not in the Longer OED, then?

 >It is. "Totter, n.2" gives you a cross reference to "Tot n.5" which reads:

 >"A dust-heap picker's name for a bone; whence by extension, anything worth
 >picking from a refuse-heap or elsewhere. Hence totter, a rag-and-bone
 >collector; totting, dust-heap picking." From 1873, of unknown origin.

Oops. The whole entry looked like a flyspeck in my poor-man's edition. Good
for the OED; I retract my tut-tut with an apology. Maybe I missed it in
Webster's 3rd too? No wonder I can't afford the on-line OED; my eyes are
getting weak and I can no longer tell which tots are worth picking up.

-- Doug Wilson