I. ˈstəd.ə(r), -ətə- verb
( stuttered ; stuttered ; stuttering -əd.əriŋ, -ətər-, -ə.tr- ; stutters )
Etymology: freq. of stut, from Middle English stutten; akin to Dutch stotteren to stutter, Middle Low German stotern, stötern to stutter, Old High German stōzan to thrust, push, Latin tundere to beat — more at stint
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to speak with involuntary disruption or blocking of speech (as by spasmodic repetition or prolongation of vocal sounds) — compare stammer
b. : to make sounds similar to or in the manner of a stutter
thunder which stuttered far away in the distant ranges — Jean Stafford
listens to the stuttering, muttering rumble of war — Times Literary Supplement
the one candle stuttering like an idiot's tongue — Edith Sitwell
2. : to move or act in a halting or spasmodic manner
schools are stuttering to an end — Isis
a brilliant idea stands still and stuttering — V.S.Pritchett
transitive verb
: to say, speak, or sound with or as if with a stutter
can only stutter his reply
— often used with out
the telegraph ticked the gladdest message … when it stuttered out its first letters — L.D.Lewis
• stut·ter·er noun
II. noun
( -s )
1. : an act or instance of stuttering
can hardly speak without a stutter
the stutter of the rain along the balconies — Elizabeth Bowen
the heavy stutter of aerial fire — Walt Sheldon
2. : stuttering 2
had a stutter but he was quite understandable — O.S.J.Gogarty