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MUTTERING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone
Synonyms:
grumble; grumbling; murmur; murmuring; mutter; muttering
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("muttering" is a kind of...):
complaint (an expression of grievance or resentment)
Derivation:
mutter (make complaining remarks or noises under one's breath)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by movement of the lips without the production of articulate speech
Synonyms:
murmur; murmuration; murmuring; mussitation; mutter; muttering
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("muttering" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Derivation:
mutter (talk indistinctly; usually in a low voice)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb mutter
Context examples:
She began muttering,—The flame flickers in the eye; the eye shines like dew; it looks soft and full of feeling; it smiles at my jargon: it is susceptible; impression follows impression through its clear sphere; where it ceases to smile, it is sad; an unconscious lassitude weighs on the lid: that signifies melancholy resulting from loneliness.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
But his anger still smouldered, and he kept muttering, "The beasts! The beasts!"
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled about looking for matches and muttering under his breath.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Again, I catch rare glimpses of my mother, moving her lips timidly between the two, with one of them muttering at each ear like low thunder.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
As they swept gravely in by twos and by threes, with bended heads and muttering lips there were few who did not bear upon them some signs of their daily toil.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The wind was now dead astern, muttering and puffing stronger and stronger, and my head-sails were pounding lustily.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Mr. Elton looked as if he did not very well know what answer to make; which was exactly the case; for though very much gratified by the kind care of such a fair lady, and not liking to resist any advice of her's, he had not really the least inclination to give up the visit;—but Emma, too eager and busy in her own previous conceptions and views to hear him impartially, or see him with clear vision, was very well satisfied with his muttering acknowledgment of its being very cold, certainly very cold, and walked on, rejoicing in having extricated him from Randalls, and secured him the power of sending to inquire after Harriet every hour of the evening.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Half in delirium, he began muttering aloud the lines of an anonymous poem Brissenden had been fond of quoting to him.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
What mysterious influence my presence had upon him in that state of his senses, I shall not pretend to say; but when he at last began to wander feebly, it is certain he was muttering about driving me to school.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
This little speech had cost the blunt bowman much pains and planning; but he might have spared his breath, for the lady was quite as much absorbed as her lord in the letter, which they held between them, a hand on either corner, spelling it out very slowly, with drawn brows and muttering lips.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
