Adjacent Words

Stammer definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STAMMER, v.i. Literally, to stop in uttering syllables or words; to stutter; to hesitate or falter in speaking; and hence, to speak with stops and difficulty. Demosthenes is said to have stammered in speaking, and to have overcome the difficulty by persevering efforts.
STAMMER, v.t. To utter or pronounce with hesitation or imperfectly.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a speech disorder involving hesitations and involuntary repetitions of certain sounds [syn: stammer, stutter] v
1: speak haltingly; "The speaker faltered when he saw his opponent enter the room" [syn: bumble, stutter, stammer, falter]

Merriam Webster's

verb (stammered; stammering) Etymology: Middle English stameren, from Old English stamerian; akin to Old High German stamal?n to stammer, Old Norse stemma to hinder, damn up — more at stem Date: before 12th century intransitive verb to make involuntary stops and repetitions in speaking transitive verb to utter with involuntary stops or repetitions • stammer noun • stammerer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. speak (habitually, or on occasion from embarrassment etc.) with halting articulation, esp. with pauses or rapid repetitions of the same syllable. 2 tr. (often foll. by out) utter (words) in this way (stammered out an excuse). --n. 1 a tendency to stammer. 2 an instance of stammering. Derivatives: stammerer n. stammeringly adv. Etymology: OE stamerian f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stammer Stam"mer, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stammered; p. pr. & vb. n. Stammering.] [OE. stameren, fr. AS. stamur, stamer, stammering; akin to D. & LG. stameren to stammer, G. stammeln, OHG. stammal?n, stamm?n, 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.] To make involuntary stops in uttering syllables or words; to hesitate or falter in speaking; to speak with stops and diffivulty; to stutter. I would thou couldst stammer, that thou mightest pour this conclead man out of thy mouth, as wine comes out of a narrow-mouthed bottle, either too much at once, or none at all. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stammer Stam"mer, v. t. To utter or pronounce with hesitation or imperfectly; -- sometimes with out.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stammer Stam"mer, n. Defective utterance, or involuntary interruption of utterance; a stutter.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stammers, stammering, stammered) 1. If you stammer, you speak with difficulty, hesitating and repeating words or sounds. Five per cent of children stammer at some point... 'Forgive me,' I stammered... People cursed and stammered apologies. VERB: V, V with quote, V n • stammering Of all speech impediments stammering is probably the most embarrassing. N-UNCOUNT 2. Someone who has a stammer tends to stammer when they speak. A speech-therapist cured his stammer. N-SING

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Stutter, hesitate (in speaking), falter, haw, hum and haw. II. n. Stutter, falter, hesitation.

Moby Thesaurus

balbuties, be guilty, blush, change color, color, color up, crimson, dysphemia, falter, faltering, flush, gibber, halt, hammer, haw, hem, hem and haw, hesitate, hesitation, hum, hum and haw, jabber, look guilty, lurch, mammer, mantle, palilalia, pause, redden, splutter, sputter, squirm with self-consciousness, stagger, stammering, stumble, stutter, stuttering, topple, totter, traulism, turn red, wobble