stammer
Use Stammer in a sentence
ər verb (used without object)
1.
to speak with involuntary breaks and pauses, or with spasmodic repetitions of syllables or sounds.
verb (used with object)
2.
to say with a stammer (often followed by out ).
noun
3.
a stammering mode of utterance.
4.
a stammered utterance.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English stammeren (v.), Old English stamerian (cognate with German stammern), equivalent to stam stammering + -erian -er6; akin to Old Norse stamma to stammer, Gothic stams stammering
before 1000; Middle English stammeren (v.), Old English stamerian (cognate with German stammern), equivalent to stam stammering + -erian -er6; akin to Old Norse stamma to stammer, Gothic stams stammering
Related forms
stam·mer·er, noun
stam·mer·ing·ly, adverb
un·stam·mer·ing, adjective
un·stam·mer·ing·ly, adverb
Synonyms
1. pause, hesitate, falter. Stammer, stutter mean to speak with some form of difficulty. Stammer the general term, suggests a speech difficulty that results in broken or inarticulate sounds and sometimes in complete stoppage of speech; it may be temporary, caused by sudden excitement, confusion, embarrassment, or other emotion, or it may be so deep-seated as to require special treatment for its correction. Stutter the parallel term preferred in technical usage, designates a broad range of defects that produce spasmodic interruptions of the speech rhythm, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds or syllables: The child's stutter was no mere stammer of embarrassment.
1. pause, hesitate, falter. Stammer, stutter mean to speak with some form of difficulty. Stammer the general term, suggests a speech difficulty that results in broken or inarticulate sounds and sometimes in complete stoppage of speech; it may be temporary, caused by sudden excitement, confusion, embarrassment, or other emotion, or it may be so deep-seated as to require special treatment for its correction. Stutter the parallel term preferred in technical usage, designates a broad range of defects that produce spasmodic interruptions of the speech rhythm, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds or syllables: The child's stutter was no mere stammer of embarrassment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To stammer
Collins
World English Dictionary
stammer (ˈstæmə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to speak or say (something) in a hesitant way, esp as a result of a speech disorder or through fear, stress, etc |
| —n | |
| 2. | a speech disorder characterized by involuntary repetitions and hesitations |
| [Old English stamerian; related to Old Saxon stamarōn, Old High German stamm] | |
| 'stammerer | |
| —n | |
| 'stammering | |
| —n, —adj | |
| 'stammeringly | |
| —adv | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Stammer
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
stammer
O.E. stamerian, from W.Gmc. *stamrojan (cf. O.N. stammr, O.H.G. stam, Goth. stamms "stammering," M.Du. stameren, Ger. stammeln "to stammer," O.Fris., Ger. stumm "dumb"), from PIE base *stam-, *stum- "check, impede" (see stem (v.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
stammer stam·mer (stām'ər)
n.
A speech disorder characterized by hesitation and repetition of sounds, or by mispronunciation or transposition of certain consonants, especially l, r, and s. v. stam·mered, stam·mer·ing, stam·mers
To speak with a stammer.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
She doesn't make a molehill out of her nervous stammer or the awkward stage before she blossomed.
With the nation on the brink of war, the king desperately needed a cure for his severe stammer.
They stammer through some answers, but none seems satisfying.
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