FALTER


Meaning of FALTER in English

I. ˈfȯlteə(r) verb

( faltered ; faltered ; faltering -ltəriŋ, -l.tr- ; falters )

Etymology: Middle English falteren, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Icelandic faltrask to be burdened, be unsure, Faeroese fjaltra to tremble

intransitive verb

1.

a. : to walk in an unsteady or wavering manner : stumble , stagger

the naked stranger falters out of the thicket and drops to his knees — Dudley Fitts

b. : to be unsteady on one's feet : give way : totter

being eighty-nine, he had a chair … but … he stood without complaint or faltering — Joseph Bryan

he could feel his legs falter

c. : to move waveringly or unsteadily as if uncertain

her eyes faltered away from his — Erle Stanley Gardner

forced to bail out of faltering airplanes over the Alps — National Geographic

2. : to speak brokenly or weakly : hesitate , stammer

his voice faltered just the least bit — Joseph Conrad

3.

a. : to hesitate in purpose or action : waver , flinch

never faltered in his determination to make good

warned the Western democracies to suffer no division or faltering in their duty — Current Biography

b. : to lose drive, effectiveness, or momentum in some way : weaken , decline , fail

his powers of musical invention never falter or flag

when a symbolist poem falters for a moment it is irretrievably lost — Burns Singer

Britain's vaunted prosperity was faltering — Time

transitive verb

: to utter with hesitation or in a broken, trembling, or weak manner

falter an excuse

Synonyms: see hesitate

II. noun

( -s )

: the act or an instance of faltering

I managed to do what was required of me without falter — Lonnie Coleman

especially : quaver

a falter in her voice

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.