splutter
verb (used without object)
to talk rapidly and somewhat incoherently, as when confused, excited, or embarrassed.
had spluttered
-
past perfectof splutter.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He had spluttered at Everton on Saturday, labouring out of picture as the home side dominated to lead comfortably by the interval, and had been replaced by Giroud at the break.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 27, 2014
City may have arrived on the banks of the Thames unbeaten, but they had spluttered too often in recent weeks.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 29, 2012
I suppose it might have been a fairly good county paper once,—but for some years it had spluttered so feebly that one wondered how it survived at all.
From Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man by Marie Conway Oemler
It was far more likely that Prothero, getting it heaven knows where, had spluttered it out and forgotten it, leaving it to germinate in the mind of his friend....
From The Research Magnificent by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Country squires had spluttered over the damage to fox covers.
From The Railway Builders A Chronicle of Overland Highways by Oscar Douglas Skelton
