as in to drool
to speak rapidly, inarticulately, and usually unintelligibly
she was so shocked that, for a moment, all she could do was sputter
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sputter
And while the Magic’s on-court product sputtered at times, the Magic’s business side thrived under Martins.
—
Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 June 2025
On the mound, Allan Winans also got off to a solid start before sputtering in his Yankees debut.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 24 June 2025
It's expected Brian Cashman and company will make a move then after the internal hopes have sputtered.
—Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
Officers tended to wave shiny new Packards through their checkpoints but halted sputtering early-model Fords pulling makeshift trailers and caked with half a continent’s dust.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sputter
Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 June 2025
On the mound, Allan Winans also got off to a solid start before sputtering in his Yankees debut.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 24 June 2025
It's expected Brian Cashman and company will make a move then after the internal hopes have sputtered.
—Drew Vonscio, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
Officers tended to wave shiny new Packards through their checkpoints but halted sputtering early-model Fords pulling makeshift trailers and caked with half a continent’s dust.
—Olatunji Osho-Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for sputter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sputter
Verb
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Alice killing Jane gets its own paragraph: After awkwardly running like Taylor Swift in that treadmill commercial, Alice hops over Jane, grabs her by the throat, and feeds her to a drooling wolf.—
Wolfgang Ruth,
Vulture,
1 May 2025
-
Symptoms may include excessive panting, glazed eyes, lethargy, drooling, vomiting, or confusion.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 July 2025
Verb
-
Thelma was the only one who kept rushing forward, shouting, Harold is shot!—
Joshua Sharpe
August 6,
Literary Hub,
6 Aug. 2025
-
After beating Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins in a 1-on-1 drill to start Tuesday’s joint practice, Mitchell shouted in the direction of several media members who witnessed him make Wiggins look bad at the line of scrimmage.—
James Boyd,
New York Times,
6 Aug. 2025
Verb
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As the kids chattered away over snacks, the co-founders spoke about their own formative experiences growing up with summer camps and later attending HBCUs.—
Rachel Wegner,
The Tennessean,
24 July 2025
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Families chattered in the waiting area, volunteers asked shoppers their preferences and Judy Freebus, speaking Russian, was engaged in a bilingual conversation with an elderly Ukrainian woman at the check-in station.—
Sophie Levenson,
Chicago Tribune,
20 July 2025
Verb
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Police searched for Best and his son Zeke for two days before a group of hunters came across the father naked in the snow alongside a local highway and muttering incoherently with baby Zeke laying dead nearby, PEOPLE reported at the time.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
28 July 2025
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Before immediately snapping, sighing loudly, or muttering a passive-aggressive comment, try pausing to consider what else might be going on first: Maybe your barista’s slammed with 10 other complicated orders, for instance, or your housemate had a brutal week at work.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
17 June 2025
Verb
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The brothers leisurely chatted for the next forty minutes, until the all clear sounded at 0830.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Aug. 2025
-
The actor chatted with PEOPLE at the New York premiere for his new Prime Video series, Butterfly, on Tuesday, Aug. 6.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But when the disheveled, withdrawn ex-friend shows up in the locker room gibbering about an evil spirit, Sam is mortified, impulsively knocking to the ground the grungy-looking Mason jar that Tamira has been carrying around.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
18 Sep. 2023
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For a while, police interest bent toward a Phud who had been warned he might be eliminated from the program, who had seemed almost exultant about the fire and gibbered gleefully about the media spotlight.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
13 Apr. 2018
Verb
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The change of scenery freed the author to rattle herself in the service of her art and, despite continuing to question her abilities, finally declare pride in her fiction.—
Hillary Kelly,
The Atlantic,
5 Aug. 2025
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True to its nickname, the Bounce House was alive with energy — literally — as the section above the visiting locker room shook, rattled and rolled with students bouncing up and down in excitement before kickoff.—
Matt Murschel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But Lee, wise to how the heart stutters, didn’t pander to audiences with bromides like love is love.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2025
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Navigating menus in both the main interface and most apps feels generally responsive, but occasionally seems to stutter a bit.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
15 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sputter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sputter. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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