wabbling

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

Moving from side to side; vacillation; oscillation.


Leverrier's calculations gave the mass of the unknown planet, by which the "wabblings" of Herschell were to be set right, at so much; but the mass of the known planet proves to be loss than a quarter of what Leverrier figured out; and the result is, in short, that yet another and much larger planet must be found to make Leverrier's theory good. Here's a pretty kettle of fish!--N. Y. Com. Adv.