/ ˈstʌtə(r); NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
1.
to have difficulty speaking because you cannot stop yourself from repeating the first sound of some words several times
SYN stammer :
[ v speech ]
'W-w-what?' he stuttered.
[ vn ]
I managed to stutter a reply.
[also v ]
2.
[ v ] ( of a vehicle or an engine ) to move or start with difficulty, making short sharp noises or movements :
The car stuttered along in first gear.
■ noun
[ sing. ] a speech problem in which a person finds it difficult to say the first sound of a word and repeats it several times :
He had a terrible stutter.
••
WORD ORIGIN
late 16th cent. (as a verb): frequentative of dialect stut , of Germanic origin; related to German stossen strike against.