HESITATE

v. 1 delay, hold or hang back, pause, dilly-dally, wait, temporize, think twice, balk, boggle at, shrink from, demur, scruple, Brit haver, jib, Colloq stall He who hesitates is lost 2 fumble, equivocate, tergiversate, fluctuate, alternate, waver, dither, vacillate, shilly-shally He hesitated between the doors - did this one conceal the lady or the tiger? 3 stammer, stutter, falter, sputter, splutter, stumble, hem and haw: She hesitated throughout the speech purely from stage fright