MEANING
1. To speak with repeated sounds, involuntary pauses, or difficulty sustaining fluent speech.
2. A pattern or instance of speech disrupted by repetitions, pauses, or difficulty producing sounds fluently.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- stammer a reply
- stammer over a word
- begin to stammer
On the page
He began to stammer as he tried to explain the delay.
She stammered the first word, then finished at her own pace.
The witness stammered, but his account remained consistent.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- stammer
- Past tense
- stammered
- Past participle
- stammered
- Present participle
- stammering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- stammer
- Present continuous
- am/is/are stammering
- Present perfect
- have/has stammered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been stammering
- Past
- stammered
- Past continuous
- was/were stammering
- Past perfect
- had stammered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been stammering
- Future
- will stammer
- Future continuous
- will be stammering
- Future perfect
- will have stammered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been stammering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: fear. Forms: stammer; stammers; stammered; stammered; stammering Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: stammers.
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