Definition of stutter
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
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Examples of stutter in a Sentence
I used to stutter when I was a child.
She stutters when she gets excited.
Recent Examples of stutter from the Web
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The win sees the team overtake Valkenswaard United, who stuttered after Italian rider Alberto Zorzi's four-fault run on Friday, to lead the overall standings.
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But her campaign has often stuttered over the past few weeks.
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The Stuttering Foundation website (www.stutteringhelp.com) has a massive list of famous people who stutter and who have been successful in the areas of business, entertainment, sports, science and elsewhere.
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A guitar riff would stutter like a crankshaft, then the beat would kick in, and suddenly everything smelled like motor oil and hormones.
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Bautista broke for home but was left stuttering toward the plate and was easily thrown out.
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.
Origin and Etymology of stutter
frequentative of English dialect stut to stutter, from Middle English stutten; akin to Dutch stotteren to stutter, Goth stautan to strike — more at contusion
stutter
Definition of stutter
1 : an act or instance of stuttering
2 : the habitual tendency to stutter had a mild stutter : stuttering
Recent Examples of stutter from the Web
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Emmitt, a young man with a stutter and an endearing guilelessness, proudly arrives at his great-uncle’s farm wearing his Panama hat and white bucks.
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Mike Bibby was a smooth-shooting, stutter-stepping genius.
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The result was a flurry of unworried fast-break dunks and layups for Durant, who, once limber, showed off the other aspects of his game—a slick, subtle stutter-step here, a blasé three-pointer there.
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Learn More Not once did Vella stutter or lose her train of thought throughout the entire presentation.
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After a stutter-step start, the technology caught up with the idea and in 2009 Raytheon delivered the first MALD to the Air Force.
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Learn More Not once did Vella stutter or lose her train of thought throughout the entire presentation.
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Raised in Montreal near the magnificent park on Mount Royal, and then outside Los Angeles, young Toody was teased relentlessly for a terrible stutter, sparking a deep sense of empathy for others in similar situations.
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The Predator X27 is one of the debut G-Sync HDR displays, infused with Nvidia’s stutter-killing graphics technology and glorious high-dynamic-range visuals that are only just starting to appear in PCs.
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.
First Known Use of stutter
1651
STUTTER Defined for English Language Learners
stutter
playDefinition of stutter for English Language Learners
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: to have a speech problem that causes you to repeat the beginning sound of some words
stutter
Definition of stutter for English Language Learners
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: a speech problem that causes someone to repeat the beginning sounds of some words
STUTTER Defined for Kids
Definition of stutter for Students
stuttered
;stuttering
: to speak or say with involuntary repetition or interruption of sounds
Definition of stutter for Students
: the act or an instance of speaking with involuntary repetition or interruption
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of stutter
: to speak with involuntary disruption or blocking of speech (as by repetition or prolongation of vocal sounds)
transitive verb
: to say, speak, or sound with or as if with a stutter
stutter
Medical Definition of stutter
1: an act or instance of stuttering
2: the habitual tendency to stutter had a mild stutter : stuttering 2
Learn More about stutter
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See words that rhyme with stutter Spanish Central: Translation of stutter Nglish: Translation of stutter for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of stutter for Arabic speakers
Seen and Heard
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