stutter

verb

stut·ter | \ ˈstə-tər

stuttered; stuttering; stutters

Definition of stutter

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to speak with involuntary disruption or blocking of speech (as by repetition or prolongation of vocal sounds)

2 : to move or act in a halting or spasmodic manner the old jalopy bucks and stutters uphill— William Cleary

transitive verb

: to say, speak, or sound with or as if with a stutter

stutter

noun

Definition of stutter (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an act or instance of stuttering

2 : the habitual tendency to stutter had a mild stutter : stuttering

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Examples of stutter in a Sentence

Verb

I used to stutter when I was a child. She stutters when she gets excited.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The Red Devils' academy graduate has only started 14 league games this season, and whilst Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard continue to shine, his form has stuttered and his World Cup hopes have faded slightly. — SI.com, "6 of the Best Moments From the Weekend's Premier League Action as Liverpool Struggle," 12 Mar. 2018 The modern incarnations of the series have stuttered a bit in their character construction, though. — Daniel Starkey, Ars Technica, "Shadow of the Tomb Raider review: Fighting for my life and loving it," 10 Sep. 2018 Germany looked to be stuttering to a disappointing draw until Toni Kroos stole all three points for the reigning champions with a sensational late finish. — SI.com, "Joachim Low Insists That Mesut Ozil Will Still Have an Important Role for Germany at the World Cup," 24 June 2018 My friend Sam who is a stutterer stuttered on his name when ordering a coffee at Starbucks. — Valerie Russ, Philly.com, "Did a Philly Starbucks barista mock a customer with a stutter?," 2 July 2018 My friend Sam who is a stutterer stuttered on his name when ordering a coffee at Starbucks. — Valerie Russ, Philly.com, "Did a Philly Starbucks barista mock a customer with a stutter?," 2 July 2018 Argentina made three changes in personnel from the side that stuttered to a disappointing draw against Iceland with Gabriel Mercado, Enzo Perez and Marcos Acuna coming in to replace Marcos Rojo, Lucas Biglia and Angel Di Maria. — SI.com, "Argentina 0-3 Croatia: Caballero's Blunder Costs Argentina as Croatia Qualify for Last 16," 21 June 2018 The Real Madrid man endured a difficult evening as his side stuttered to a 1-1 draw against a resilient Iran side and his penalty miss summed up his evening. — SI.com, "Gary Lineker Posts Cheeky Tweet Following Cristiano Ronaldo's Penalty Miss Against Iran," 27 June 2018 Tan Lekwijit posted Sunday on Facebook that his friend Sam stuttered when giving his name. — CBS News, "Starbucks fires Philadelphia employee accused of mocking stuttering customer," 5 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Scrolling always stutters, and often the watch becomes sluggish or unresponsive depending on what is happening in the background. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Review: Google’s Wear OS 2.0 can’t fix its obsolete smartwatch hardware," 28 Sep. 2018 For those with compatible AMD graphics cards can sync with the monitor to produce a smoother gaming experience with less stutter. — Ian Paul, PCWorld, "Forget Amazon Prime Day, Newegg's got two great deals on FreeSync displays right now," 17 July 2018 Y Cross Divide is the combination route for wideouts J.J. Nelson (a deep diagonal from the front of the stack) and Larry Fitzgerald (a stutter-and-go—run seven yards downfield, deke toward the sideline, then sprint upfield). — Peter King, SI.com, "A Quarterback and His Game Plan, Part II: Virtual Reality Meets Reality," 19 Nov. 2015 Even after cutting so many corners, Fortnite on the S8+ only teeters on the edge of 30fps performance, with acceptable, iOS- and Switch-like stutters when aiming the game's camera at simpler scenes. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Fortnite on Android gets off to a bumpy, Samsung-only start, lags behind PUBG," 14 Aug. 2018 So, simply being nervous doesn’t make someone stutter. — Char Adams, PEOPLE.com, "5 Common Myths About Stuttering Debunked (It's Not Psychological!)," 18 June 2018 Bailey, who was just 9 when Moochie, then 22, stabbed his victim, developed a severe stutter when his brother went away. — John Eligon, New York Times, "After His Brother Commits Murder, a Journalist Revisits Their Childhood," 6 July 2018 Next is an extended, percussive-heavy take from Latroit with plenty of strange synth stutter. — Kat Bein, Billboard, "deadmau5's 'mau5ville: level 1' Brings A Range Of Sounds, Emotions: Listen," 13 July 2018 An Facebook user claiming to be a friend of Sam's posted that the employee made fun of the stutter even before getting the cup. — Fox News, "Philly Starbucks barista accused of making fun of stuttering customer: report," 4 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stutter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.