falter
nounEtymology
From Middle English falteren (“to stagger; be unsteady, tremble, quiver; to stammer; be entangled, get caught”), further origin unknown. Probably from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse faltrask (“to hesitate, be puzzled, be encumbered”). May also be a frequentative of fold, although the change from d to t is unusual.
- inherited from falteren — “to stagger; be unsteady, tremble, quiver; to stammer; be entangled, get caught”
Definitions
An unsteadiness.
- Tom, who isn't paying much attention, is suddenly caught by the falter in his voice as he reads the two lines—
To waver or be unsteady
To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off.
- He found his legs falter.
To stammer
To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.
- And here he faltered forth his last farewell.
- With faltering speech and visage incomposed.
›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer
To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise
To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought.
- Here indeed the power of distinctly conceiving of space and distance falters.
To stumble.
To lose faith or vigor
To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).
- And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter.
To hesitate in purpose or action.
- Ere her native king / Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms.
To cleanse or sift, as barley.
- Barley[…]clean falter'd from Hairs
The neighborhood
- synonymflounder
Derived
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at falter. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at falter. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
6 hops · closes at falter
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA