▪ I. falter
var. of faulter, Obs., defaulter.
▪ II. falter, v.1
(ˈfɔːltə(r), ˈfɒltə(r))
Forms: 5 faltir, 6 (in Fisher flalter, floghter), folter, 6–9 faulter, (7 foulter), 7 felter, 4– falter.
[Of obscure etymology.
The current view, which connects the word with fault, is untenable, on the ground that falter has always been written with the l, and is so pronounced in the dialects in which it occurs, whereas in fault the l is an etymologizing insertion, which rarely occurs in spelling before 16th c., and was not pronounced, even by educated speakers, till much later. (But it is not unlikely that association with fault may have coloured the recent use of the word.) It seems possible that sense 1, ‘to stumble’, may have been developed from the sense ‘to be entangled’ (falter v.2). On the other hand it is noteworthy that ME. falde-n, fold v. is used of the limbs and the tongue in the sense ‘to give way, fail, falter’; perh. falter may be a frequentative of fald-en, formed irregularly through the influence of approximately synonymous vbs. like balter, totter, welter.]
1. Of a person or his steps; also of a horse: To stumble, stagger; to walk with an unsteady gait.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 430 Nawþer faltered ne fel þe freke..Bot styþly he start forth vpon styf schonkes. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 280 In feyntnes I falter. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. vii. (1634) 159 Hee beginneth..to shake and folter. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 87 Which [mare] now suddenly faultring under him. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 30 If you doe perceive him to felter with any of his feet. 1781 Cowper Truth 537 Faltering, faint and slow. 1795 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 119, I have laid up my Rosinante in his stall, before his unfitness for the road shall expose him faultering to the world. 1821 Byron Sardan. v. i, The dispirited troops..had seen you fall, and falter'd back. 1878 Masque Poets 35 Thou guidest steps that falter on alone. |
b. Of the limbs: To give way, totter.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 674 O messager, fulfild of dronkenesse, Strong is thy breth, thy lymes faltren ay. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 179 Hys leggys to faltryn gunne sodeynly. 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xvii, Where the water hath come to his [the horse's] bely, his legges hath foltred. 1672 Wiseman Wounds i. ix. 120 He felt his legs faulter. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i. (1826) 4 In descending the last steps..the foot of the elder lady faltered. |
c. Of the tongue: To fail to articulate distinctly; to speak unsteadily (see 2).
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. xlviii. (1539) 93 a, His tonge faultred, and his handes shoke. a 1535 Fisher Wks. (1876) I. 356 Thy tongue flaltereth in thy mouth. 1671 R. Bohun Disc. Wind. 148 Wee find the tongue more apt to falter. |
2. To stumble in one's speech; to speak hesitatingly or incoherently; to stammer. Of the voice, speech, etc.: To come forth incoherently.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 148 Faltryn yn þe tunge, cespito, vel lingua cespitare. 1530 Palsgr. 544/1, I falter in my speakyng, as one dothe that is dronken. Je baboye. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. iii. (1593) 63 She foltred in the mouth as often as she spake. 1602 Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 124 Her speach falters. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 114 He..faulters in this discourse. 1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 92 He did not faulter, nor could be detected in his tale? 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest vi, The words of welcome faltered on his lips. 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 687 His voice soon faltering stops. 1821 Mrs. Hemans Dartmoor 288 When holy strains..falter on its tongue. 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 301 Even in the middle of his song He falter'd. |
b. trans.; with quoted words as obj.
| 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 230 She..made me most happy, faltering, ‘I am thine’. 1884 Pae Eustace 69 ‘Why would you have Ralph discharged?’ she faltered. |
c. to falter forth or falter out: to utter hesitatingly or with difficulty; to stammer forth. Also (poet.), To breathe out (the soul) by gasps.
| 1762 Gentl. Mag. 73, I faultered out my acknowledgements. 1813 Byron Corsair i. i, While gasp by gasp he falters forth his soul. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 532 She..faltered out her commands that he would sit down. 1868 Milman St. Paul's 305 The Dean faltered out that he meant no harm. |
3. To waver, lose steadfastness; to flinch, hesitate in action from lack of courage or resolution. Also of courage, hopes, resolve: To give way, flag.
| 1521 Fisher Wks. (1876) I. 313 That we floghter not in the catholike doctryne. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 128 The hier they flie, the sooner they falter and faill. a 1677 Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 11 All other principles..will soon be shaken and faulter. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 2 If any Man faultred in the Journey over Land he must expect to be shot to death. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 452 It made them faulter and hesitate. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. I. xii, His hopes..began to falter. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 168 A part of the army faultered considerably. 1859 Tennyson Enid 1361 Nor let her true hand falter, nor blue eye Moisten, till she had lighted on his wound. a 1864 I. Taylor (W.), Here..the power of distinct conception of space and distance falters. 1872 M. E. Braddon To Bitter End I. xvii. 291 The girl's spirits did not falter. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii. §4. 77 The citizens..faltered as William..gave Southwark to the flames. |
† b. To fail in strength, collapse. Obs.
| 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 18 Until the patient in a close room faulters and sinks. [1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Gloss., Faltery, to show signs of old age; to break up in constitution.] |
c. transf. Of inanimate things: To move as if irresolutely or hesitatingly; to tremble, quiver. Also of a breeze: To flag.
The later examples are all from U.S. writers; to an English reader the use in the quot. from Irving sounds incorrect, that in the two others justifiable though unusual.
| 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 152 Trade Wind blows..within 60 or 70 Leagues of the Mexican Shore, where they say it sometimes falters, but oftner reaches to within 30 Leagues. 1810 [see faltering ppl. a.]. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 240 He..began to nod, and his staff to falter in his hand. 1848 Lowell Indian Summer Reverie i, When falling leaves falter through motionless air. 1874 Motley Barneveld II. xvii. 227 The ancient Rhine as it falters languidly to the sea. |
d. dial. Of a crop: To fail.
| 1863 Dorset Gloss. s.v., ‘I be a-feärd the teäties will falter.’ |
Hence ˈfaltered ppl. a., ˈfaltering vbl. n.
| 1706 Earl Belhaven Sp. in Sc. Parlt. 5 Are our Eyes so Blinded? Are our Ears so Deafned? Are our Tongues so Faltered? a 1800 T. Bellamy Beggar Boy (1801) III. 42 In a voice, faltered by surprize..he eagerly demanded their business. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 65 The signes are a foltering in his fore legges. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 172 Some thing made those faultrings in my talke. 1722 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 290 He..hath long watched for my faultering. 1823 Lamb Elia Ser. i. xi. (1865) 89 He has no falterings of self-suspicion. 1871 Standard 23 Jan., There were occasional natural falterings. |
▪ III. † ˈfalter, v.2 Obs. rare.
[perh. var. of felter v., to be felted, matted, f. OF. feltre, faultre felt. But cf. OIcel. faltra-sk ‘to be cumbered, faltra-sk viđ e- t. to be puzzled about a thing’ (Vigf.).]
intr. To become entangled, catch.
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6038 Þe whele faltird in his clathes Þat ware lange and syde. |
▪ IV. falter, v.3
(ˈfɔːltə(r))
Also 7 faulter, foulter, 9 dial. faughter, fauther.
[? a. OF. *faltrer (recorded form fautrer) to strike, beat.]
trans. To thrash (corn) a second time in order to cleanse it and get rid of the awn or beard, etc.; hence, to cleanse.
| 1601 Holland Pliny xviii. x, They haue much ado..to thresh it cleane and falter it from the huls and eiles. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 182 Then foulter and beat the husk again. 1681 Houghton Lett. Husbandry 64 In choosing Barly..the Malster looks that it be..clean faltered from haines. 1788 in Marshall E. Yorksh. Gloss. 1876 in Robinson Whitby Gloss. |
Hence ˈfaltering vbl. n. (in Comb.).
| 1847–78 Halliwell, Faltering-irons. 1869 Peacock Lonsdale Gloss., Faughtering-iron, an iron used to knock off the beards of barley when thrashed. |
▪ V. falter, n.
(ˈfɔːltə(r), ˈfɒltə(r))
[f. falter v.1]
A faltering or quavering, unsteadiness.
| 1834 C'tess Morley Dacre I. xi. 233 With a slight falter in her voice. 1880 Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 74 She fancied she heard a falter in Viola's tones. |
b. A faltering or quavering sound.
| c 1842 Lowell Rhœcus Poems (1844) 121 Far away..The falter of an idle shepherd's pipe. |
▪ VI. falter
var. of felter.