MEANING
1. To speak with involuntary repetitions or interruptions of sounds or syllables.
2. To move, operate, or make sound unevenly, with brief stops and starts.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- stutter over a word
- begin to stutter
On the page
He began to stutter over the address, then stopped and pointed to the envelope.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- stutter
- Past tense
- stuttered
- Past participle
- stuttered
- Present participle
- stuttering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- stutter
- Present continuous
- am/is/are stuttering
- Present perfect
- have/has stuttered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been stuttering
- Past
- stuttered
- Past continuous
- was/were stuttering
- Past perfect
- had stuttered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been stuttering
- Future
- will stutter
- Future continuous
- will be stuttering
- Future perfect
- will have stuttered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been stuttering
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: literary / elevated general. Forms: stutter; stutters; stuttered; stuttered; stuttering Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: dialogue, description. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: stutters.
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