stammer

[stam-er] /ˈstæm 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
Related forms
stammerer, noun
stammeringly, adverb
unstammering, adjective
unstammeringly, adverb
Can be confused
stammer, stutter (see synonym study at the current entry)
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.
Examples from the web for stammer
  • She doesn't make a molehill out of her nervous stammer or the awkward stage before she blossomed.
  • They stammer through some answers, but none seems satisfying.
  • With the nation on the brink of war, the king desperately needed a cure for his severe stammer.
British Dictionary definitions for stammer

stammer

/ˈstæmə/
verb
1.
to speak or say (something) in a hesitant way, esp as a result of a speech disorder or through fear, stress, etc
noun
2.
a speech disorder characterized by involuntary repetitions and hesitations
Derived Forms
stammerer, noun
stammering, noun, adjective
stammeringly, adverb
Word Origin
Old English stamerian; related to Old Saxon stamarōn, Old High German stamm
Word Origin and History for stammer
v.

Old English stamerian, from West Germanic *stamrojan (cf. Old Norse stammr, Old High German stam, Gothic stamms "stammering," Middle Dutch stameren, German stammeln "to stammer," Old Frisian and German stumm "dumb"), from PIE root *stam-, *stum- "check, impede" (see stem (v.)).

stammer in Medicine

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.