I. stut ‧ ter 1 /ˈstʌtə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: stut 'to stutter' (14-19 centuries) ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to speak with difficulty because you cannot stop yourself from repeating the first ↑ consonant of some words ⇨ stammer :
‘I’m D-d-david,’ he stuttered.
2 . [intransitive] if a machine stutters, it keeps making little noises and does not work smoothly:
a refrigerator which stuttered and hummed
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THESAURUS
■ different ways of saying something
▪ whisper to say something very quietly, using your breath rather than your full voice:
‘Don’t wake the baby,’ Jenny whispered.
▪ mumble to say something quietly without pronouncing the words clearly:
He mumbled his thanks.
▪ mutter to say something quietly, especially when you are annoyed but do not want someone to hear you complaining:
‘This is ridiculous,’ he muttered under his breath.
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She muttered something about having to go home early.
▪ murmur to say something in a soft slow gentle voice:
She stroked his hair and murmured, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll be all right.’
▪ growl to say something in a low angry voice:
‘As I was saying,’ Lewis growled, ‘it needs to be finished today.’
▪ snarl to say something in a nasty angry way:
‘Get out of my way!’ he snarled.
▪ exclaim to say something suddenly and loudly:
‘How beautiful!’ she exclaimed.
▪ blurt out to suddenly say something without thinking, especially something embarrassing or secret:
It was partly nervousness that had made him blurt out the question.
▪ stammer/stutter to speak with a lot of pauses and repeated sounds, because you have a speech problem, or because you are nervous or excited:
‘I’ll, I’ll only be a m-moment,’ he stammered.
II. stutter 2 BrE AmE noun [singular]
an inability to speak normally because you stutter SYN stammer :
a nervous stutter