halting

[hawl-ting] /ˈhɔl tɪŋ/
adjective
1.
faltering or hesitating, especially in speech.
2.
faulty or imperfect.
3.
limping or lame:
a halting gait.
Origin
1375-1425; late Middle English; see halt2, -ing2
Related forms
haltingly, adverb
haltingness, noun
unhalting, adjective
unhaltingly, adverb

halt1

[hawlt] /hɔlt/
verb (used without object)
1.
to stop; cease moving, operating, etc., either permanently or temporarily:
They halted for lunch and strolled about.
verb (used with object)
2.
to cause to stop temporarily or permanently; bring to a stop:
They halted operations during contract negotiations.
noun
3.
a temporary or permanent stop.
interjection
4.
(used as a command to stop and stand motionless, as to marching troops or to a fleeing suspect.)
Origin
1615-25; from the phrase make halt for German halt machen. See hold1
Synonyms
2. See stop. 3. cessation, suspension, standstill, stoppage.

halt2

[hawlt] /hɔlt/
verb (used without object)
1.
to falter, as in speech, reasoning, etc.; be hesitant; stumble.
2.
to be in doubt; waver between alternatives; vacillate.
3.
Archaic. to be lame; walk lamely; limp.
adjective
4.
Archaic. lame; limping.
noun
5.
Archaic. lameness; a limp.
6.
(used with a plural verb) lame people, especially severely lamed ones (usually preceded by the):
the halt and the blind.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English healt; cognate with Old High German halz, Old Norse haltr, Gothic halts, akin to Latin clādēs damage, loss
Related forms
haltless, adjective
Examples from the web for halting
  • On the other side is a group of scientists and citizens committed to halting the cane toad's deadly approach to its territory.
  • Sustainable logging and harvesting rather than clear-cutting are among the strategies key to halting rain forest loss.
  • What pressure the government exerts now is directed mostly at halting gas flares.
  • And of course there are the halting attempts to create ever willing romantic androids.
  • My conducting is tentative and the musicians' response is halting and lumbered.
  • His breathing was still halting but not nearly as bad.
  • And they all thereupon became fearful and timid: neither halting nor journeying was pleasant unto them.
  • His halting speech was itself a kind of laughter, not fully intelligible yet contagious.
  • Meanwhile, efforts to reverse or merely forestall wetland loss have been halting.
  • With halting speech he continued, as if trying to decide what to say next.
British Dictionary definitions for halting

halting

/ˈhɔːltɪŋ/
adjective
1.
hesitant: halting speech
2.
lame
Derived Forms
haltingly, adverb
haltingness, noun

halt1

/hɔːlt/
noun
1.
an interruption or end to activity, movement, or progress
2.
(mainly Brit) a minor railway station, without permanent buildings
3.
call a halt, to put an end (to something); stop
noun, sentence substitute
4.
a command to halt, esp as an order when marching
verb
5.
to come or bring to a halt
Word Origin
C17: from the phrase to make halt, translation of German halt machen, from halten to hold1, stop

halt2

/hɔːlt/
verb (intransitive)
1.
(esp of logic or verse) to falter or be defective
2.
to waver or be unsure
3.
(archaic) to be lame
adjective
4.
(archaic)
  1. lame
  2. (as collective noun; preceded by the): the halt
noun
5.
(archaic) lameness
Word Origin
Old English healt lame; related to Old Norse haltr, Old High German halz lame, Greek kólos maimed, Old Slavonic kladivo hammer
Word Origin and History for halting
n.

"act of limping or walking lamely," early 14c., verbal noun from halt (v.). Related: Haltingly.

halt

n.

"a stop, a halting," 1590s, from French halte (16c.) or Italian alto, ultimately from German Halt, imperative from Old High German halten "to hold" (see hold (v.)). A German military command borrowed into the Romanic languages 16c. The verb in this sense is from 1650s, from the noun. Related: Halted; halting.

adj.

"lame," in Old English lemphalt "limping," from Proto-Germanic *haltaz (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian halt, Old Norse haltr, Old High German halz, Gothic halts "lame"), from PIE *keld-, from root *kel- "to strike, cut," with derivatives meaning "something broken or cut off" (cf. Russian koldyka "lame," Greek kolobos "broken, curtailed"). The noun meaning "one who limps; the lame collectively" is from c.1200.

v.

"to walk unsteadily," early 14c., from Old English haltian "to be lame," from the same source as halt (adj.). The meaning "make a halt" is 1650s, from halt (n.). As a command word, attested from 1796. Related: Halted; halting.

halting in the Bible

lame on the feet (Gen. 32:31; Ps. 38:17). To "halt between two opinions" (1 Kings 18:21) is supposed by some to be an expression used in "allusion to birds, which hop from spray to spray, forwards and backwards." The LXX. render the expression "How long go ye lame on both knees?" The Hebrew verb rendered "halt" is used of the irregular dance ("leaped upon") around the altar (ver. 26). It indicates a lame, uncertain gait, going now in one direction, now in another, in the frenzy of wild leaping.

Idioms and Phrases with halting

halt

see: