Library / English Dictionary

STUTTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A speech disorder involving hesitations and involuntary repetitions of certain sounds

Synonyms:

stammer; stutter

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("stutter" is a kind of...):

defect of speech; speech defect; speech disorder (a disorder of oral speech)

Derivation:

stutter (speak haltingly)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Speak haltingly

Example:

The speaker faltered when he saw his opponent enter the room

Synonyms:

bumble; falter; stammer; stutter

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "stutter" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue stutter

Derivation:

stutter (a speech disorder involving hesitations and involuntary repetitions of certain sounds)

stutterer (someone who speaks with involuntary pauses and repetitions)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Follow-up experiments in which the GNPTAB human stuttering mutation was introduced into individual brain cell types — rather than the entire mouse — confirmed that the vocalization defect is specific to astrocytes.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)

In this study, the researchers set out to identify changes in the brain brought on by the mutations in a gene called GNPTAB, one of the genes previously linked to stuttering.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)

Like people who stutter, the mice were normal in all other ways, reinforcing earlier research that suggests that the mice can serve as a valid animal model for important features of this disorder.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)

However, for 1 in 4 children who experience early stuttering, the condition persists as a lifelong communication problem.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)

Stuttering is characterized by pauses and repeated or prolonged sounds, syllables or words, which disrupt the normal flow of speech.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)

Researchers believe that stuttering — a potentially lifelong and debilitating speech disorder — stems from problems with the circuits in the brain that control speech, but precisely how and where these problems occur is unknown.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)

All of the stuttering genes that have been identified over the past decade are involved in intracellular trafficking, the process that cells use to move proteins and other components to their correct locations within the cell.

(Study in mice identifies type of brain cell involved in stuttering, National Institutes of Health)