teretere
1. (verb) to float, flow, run, drift.
Hohoro tonu te here i ngā kārewa e rua ki ngā pokihiwi, oti kau anō ka totohu te kaipuke ki te wai, kumi mā ono te hōhonu, pupuri ai rātou ki ngā kārewa me ngā rākau i teretere, me kore rātou e ora i ēnei (THM 1/4/1888:2). / Hurriedly he fastened two floats around his shoulders, whereupon the ship sank in sixteen fathoms of water, with them clinging to the buoys and loose spars hoping they could survive with these.
2. (verb) to flicker (as a fire or candle).
Ki te tahu koe i te kānara, kua pau haere te kānara, kua tae tata tonu ki te pito, kua tīmata te teretere (Milroy 2011). / If you light a candle, when it is almost finished and it's almost at the end, it begins to flicker.
3. (verb) to be quick, fast, hurry, rush, dash.
Kia teretere, kei rīria tātou, he takaroa nō tātou (HKK 1999:175). / Hurry or we'll be reprimanded because we are late.
Synonyms: wakewake, patiko, oioi, rei, rere tārewa, whakatūkawikawi, tuoma, hīrere, rere, tūpou, takaniti, takawhiti, tere, māngi, pepeke, kama, kakama, hihiko, horo, pekepeke, horohoro, hohoro, tūkawikawi, wawewawe, whiwhita, whitawhita, kamakama, naho
4. (noun) company of travellers (especially by sea and water).
Nā ngā taitamariki, nā ngā taitamāhine o aua hapū nei aua teretere haere (TWK 2:22). / The youths and young women of those subtribes and travelling parties performed.
5. (noun) fast speed.
Tētahi tohu tuatahi ko te teretere o te patētē o te manawa (TTT 1/8/1929:1053). / One of the first symptoms is the fast speed of the heartbeat.
