Library / English Dictionary

STAMMER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A speech disorder involving hesitations and involuntary repetitions of certain sounds

Synonyms:

stammer; stutter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stammer" is a kind of...):

defect of speech; speech defect; speech disorder (a disorder of oral speech)

Derivation:

stammer (speak haltingly)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Speak haltingly

Example:

The speaker faltered when he saw his opponent enter the room

Synonyms:

bumble; falter; stammer; stutter

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "stammer" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue stammer

Derivation:

stammer (a speech disorder involving hesitations and involuntary repetitions of certain sounds)

stammerer (someone who speaks with involuntary pauses and repetitions)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He hesitated, stammered, repeated himself, got snarled in a long sentence, and finally turned furiously upon the cause of his troubles.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Our visitor stammered for a moment, his great hands opening and shutting in his agitation.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At length he stammered out:—"You see, I do not know how to pick out any particular part of the diary."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The man watched him go, limping grotesquely and lurching forward with stammering gait up the slow slope toward the soft sky-line of the low-lying hill.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

This was so new an attention, so perfectly new a circumstance in the events of Fanny's life, that she was all surprise and embarrassment; and while stammering out her great obligation, and her but she did not suppose it would be in her power, was looking at Edmund for his opinion and help.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

"I beg your pardon," he stammered. "I was thinking."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I stammer, with a bow, “With you, Miss Larkins.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I was quite taken aback, and before I could find myself had sillily stammered, “I—I am a gentleman.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“It—it’s not actionable,” he stammered.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Dear me, I didn't know anyone was here!" stammered Jo, preparing to back out as speedily as she had bounced in.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)