stammer
UK /ˈstæmə/ · US /ˈstæmɚ/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms stammers stammering stammered
- verb (intransitive) To keep repeating a particular sound involuntarily during speech.
- verb (transitive) To utter with a stammer, or with timid hesitancy. “He blushed, and stammered a few words of apology.”
- noun The involuntary repetition of a sound in speech. “She said goodbye in a stammer.”
- noun A speech defect whereby someone speaks with a stammer
- proper noun A surname from German.
Synonyms
hacker stutter balbucinate balbutiate croak drawl falter gibber hammer haw hesitate hum and haw jabber mince mouth muffle mumble mump mutter splutter bumble
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English stameren, from Old English stamerian, from Proto-West Germanic *stamrōn, from Proto-Germanic *stamrōną (“to stammer”). Compare German stammeln, Dutch stameren, Old Norse stammr. Doublet of stumble.
Borrowed from German Stammer.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To make involuntary stops in uttering syllables or words; to hesitate or falter in speaking; to speak with stops and diffivulty; to stutter.
- verb To utter or pronounce with hesitation or imperfectly; --sometimes with out.
- noun Defective utterance, or involuntary interruption of utterance; a stutter.
Etymology [OE. stameren, fr. AS. stamur, stamer, stammering; akin to D. & LG. stameren to stammer, G. stammeln, OHG. stammal, stamm, Dan. stamme, Sw. stamma, Icel. stama, stamma, OHG. & Dan. stam stammering, Icel. stamr, Goth. stamms, and to G. stemmen to bear against, stumm dumb, D. stom. Cf. Stem to resist, Stumble.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stammer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details