stutter
Americanverb (used with or without object)
noun
verb
-
to speak (a word, phrase, etc) with recurring repetition of consonants, esp initial ones
-
to make (an abrupt sound) repeatedly
the gun stuttered
noun
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the act or habit of stuttering
-
a stuttering sound
Usage
What does stutter mean? Stutter is to speak in a way in which the flow of speech is interrupted by repetitions, blocks, or prolonged sounds, as in He became so nervous that he started to stutter. Stutter also refers to this distortion of speech, as in My uncle was talking to the man with a stutter. The most commonly known form of stuttering is repetitions, either of partial words, as in I n-n-n-need water, or entire words, as in My-my-my back hurts. Two other forms of stuttering include prolonged sounds or syllables, as in Sssssshe is nice to me or blocks, which are stops when a person is struggling to get a word out. The word stammer is often used as a synonym for stutter, especially to describe temporary breaks in speech. However, stutter describes a wider range of speech distortions. Example: The girl hated speaking in front of the class because her shyness made her stutter and repeat her words.
Synonym Usage
See stammer.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stuttersimple
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stutterssimple
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have stutteredperfect
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has stutteredperfect
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are stutteringprogressive
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am stutteringprogressive
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is stutteringprogressive
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have been stutteringperfect progressive
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has been stutteringperfect progressive
Past
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stutteredsimple
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had stutteredperfect
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was stutteringprogressive
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were stutteringprogressive
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had been stutteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stutter
First recorded in 1520–30; earlier stut ( Middle English stutten “to stutter”) + -er 6; compare Dutch stotteren, Middle Low German stotern in the same sense
Explanation
If you've ever heard a young child stammer and trip over his words, you know what it means to stutter. Use the verb stutter when someone gets stuck on certain word sounds, either because she's speaking too quickly or eagerly, or because she has an actual speech disorder, also called a stutter. The word itself is somewhat onomatopoeic — a word that sounds like what it means — with its repeated t sounds. Stutter is thought to be related to the Middle Low German word stoten, "to knock or strike against," which is the way a stutterer's words sometimes sound.
Vocabulary lists containing stutter
Long Way Down
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Purple Hibiscus
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Chapter 4: Mesopotamia
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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.
Bonus points to anyone who can hum Kaci's Paradise, or Joe's Stutter.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2017
Teens Who Stutter support group For family members and teens, sponsored by the National Stuttering Association.
From Washington Post • Mar. 8, 2012
In it, you can see George Shaw lying to himself in a short film he made at art school called The Stutter.
From The Guardian • Feb. 13, 2011
July 29, 2010, 11:34 am Did We Stutter?
From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2010
Anyhow, that's how it looks ter me an' Stutter yere.
From Beth Norvell A Romance of the West by Parrish, Randall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
