| 释义 |
▪ 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.
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 430 Nawþer faltered ne fel þe freke..Bot styþly he start forth vpon styf schonkes. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 280 In feyntnes I falter. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. vii. (1634) 159 Hee beginneth..to shake and folter. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 87 Which [mare] now suddenly faultring under him. 1639T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 30 If you doe perceive him to felter with any of his feet. 1781Cowper Truth 537 Faltering, faint and slow. 1795T. 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. 1821Byron Sardan. v. i, The dispirited troops..had seen you fall, and falter'd back. 1878Masque Poets 35 Thou guidest steps that falter on alone.
b. Of the limbs: To give way, totter.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 674 O messager, fulfild of dronkenesse, Strong is thy breth, thy lymes faltren ay. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 179 Hys leggys to faltryn gunne sodeynly. 1531Elyot Gov. i. xvii, Where the water hath come to his [the horse's] bely, his legges hath foltred. 1672Wiseman Wounds i. ix. 120 He felt his legs faulter. 1797Mrs. 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).
a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. xlviii. (1539) 93 a, His tonge faultred, and his handes shoke. a1535Fisher Wks. (1876) I. 356 Thy tongue flaltereth in thy mouth. 1671R. 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.
c1440Promp. Parv. 148 Faltryn yn þe tunge, cespito, vel lingua cespitare. 1530Palsgr. 544/1, I falter in my speakyng, as one dothe that is dronken. Je baboye. 1565Golding Ovid's Met. iii. (1593) 63 She foltred in the mouth as often as she spake. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 124 Her speach falters. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 114 He..faulters in this discourse. 1768H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 92 He did not faulter, nor could be detected in his tale? 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest vi, The words of welcome faltered on his lips. 1804J. Grahame Sabbath 687 His voice soon faltering stops. 1821Mrs. Hemans Dartmoor 288 When holy strains..falter on its tongue. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 301 Even in the middle of his song He falter'd.
b. trans.; with quoted words as obj.
1842Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 230 She..made me most happy, faltering, ‘I am thine’. 1884Pae 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.
1762Gentl. Mag. 73, I faultered out my acknowledgements. 1813Byron Corsair i. i, While gasp by gasp he falters forth his soul. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 532 She..faltered out her commands that he would sit down. 1868Milman 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.
1521Fisher Wks. (1876) I. 313 That we floghter not in the catholike doctryne. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 128 The hier they flie, the sooner they falter and faill. a1677Barrow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 11 All other principles..will soon be shaken and faulter. 1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 2 If any Man faultred in the Journey over Land he must expect to be shot to death. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 452 It made them faulter and hesitate. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. I. xii, His hopes..began to falter. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 168 A part of the army faultered considerably. 1859Tennyson Enid 1361 Nor let her true hand falter, nor blue eye Moisten, till she had lighted on his wound. a1864I. Taylor (W.), Here..the power of distinct conception of space and distance falters. 1872M. E. Braddon To Bitter End I. xvii. 291 The girl's spirits did not falter. 1874Green Short Hist. ii. §4. 77 The citizens..faltered as William..gave Southwark to the flames.
†b. To fail in strength, collapse. Obs.
1799Med. Jrnl. I. 18 Until the patient in a close room faulters and sinks. [1886Elworthy 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.
1745P. 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.]. 1832W. Irving Alhambra II. 240 He..began to nod, and his staff to falter in his hand. 1848Lowell Indian Summer Reverie i, When falling leaves falter through motionless air. 1874Motley Barneveld II. xvii. 227 The ancient Rhine as it falters languidly to the sea.
d. dial. Of a crop: To fail.
1863Dorset Gloss. s.v., ‘I be a-feärd the teäties will falter.’
Hence ˈfaltered ppl. a., ˈfaltering vbl. n.
1706Earl Belhaven Sp. in Sc. Parlt. 5 Are our Eyes so Blinded? Are our Ears so Deafned? Are our Tongues so Faltered? a1800T. Bellamy Beggar Boy (1801) III. 42 In a voice, faltered by surprize..he eagerly demanded their business. 1614Markham Cheap Husb. (1623) 65 The signes are a foltering in his fore legges. 1621Lady M. Wroth Urania 172 Some thing made those faultrings in my talke. 1722Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 290 He..hath long watched for my faultering. 1823Lamb Elia Ser. i. xi. (1865) 89 He has no falterings of self-suspicion. 1871Standard 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.
c1450St. 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.
1601Holland Pliny xviii. x, They haue much ado..to thresh it cleane and falter it from the huls and eiles. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 182 Then foulter and beat the husk again. 1681Houghton Lett. Husbandry 64 In choosing Barly..the Malster looks that it be..clean faltered from haines. 1788in Marshall E. Yorksh. Gloss. 1876in Robinson Whitby Gloss.
Hence ˈfaltering vbl. n. (in Comb.).
1847–78Halliwell, Faltering-irons. 1869Peacock 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.
1834C'tess Morley Dacre I. xi. 233 With a slight falter in her voice. 1880Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 74 She fancied she heard a falter in Viola's tones.
b. A faltering or quavering sound.
c1842Lowell Rhœcus Poems (1844) 121 Far away..The falter of an idle shepherd's pipe.
▪ VI. falter
var. of felter. |