1.
[syn: hesitation, waver, falter, faltering]
ADJECTIVE (1)
1. unsteady in speech or action;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Falter \Fal"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Faltered; p. pr. & vb.
n. Faltering.] [OE. falteren, faltren, prob. from fault.
See Fault, v. & n.]
1. To hesitate; to speak brokenly or weakly; to stammer; as,
his tongue falters.
[1913 Webster]
With faltering speech and visage incomposed.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. To tremble; to totter; to be unsteady. "He found his legs
falter." --Wiseman.
[1913 Webster]
3. To hesitate in purpose or action.
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Ere her native king
Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms. --Shak.
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4. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; -- said
of the mind or of thought.
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Here indeed the power of disinct conception of space
and distance falters. --I. Taylor.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Faltering \Fal"ter*ing\, a.
Hesitating; trembling. "With faltering speech." --Milton. --
n. Falter; halting; hesitation. -- Fal"ter*ing*ly, adv.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
faltering
adj 1: unsteady in speech or action
n 1: the act of pausing uncertainly; "there was a hesitation in
his speech" [syn: hesitation, waver, falter,
faltering]