spluttering
present participle ofsplutter
splutter
verb
uk/ˈsplʌt.ər/us/ˈsplʌt̬.ɚ/[IorT]
tospeakin aquickandconfusedway,producingshort,unclearnoisesbecause ofsurprise,anger, etc.:
[+ speech]"But, er ... when, um, ... how?" he spluttered.
Theoldgentlemanwas splutteringwithindignation.
Hesputteredanapologyabout being 14minuteslate.
[I]
(of aperson) toproduceshort,unclearnoisesfromyourmouth,especiallybecause you cannotbreatheproperly:
Gasping,choking, spluttering, shestruggledtoescape.
She took toobigagulpofwhiskyandstartedtocoughand splutter.
[I]
(of anengineormachine) to make aseriesofshort,unclearnoises:
One of theenginesspluttered as if it wasshortoffuel.
I canhearacoffeemachinespluttering away.
Ways of talking
- beg the questionidiom
- blah
- blether
- blither
- coo
- declaim
- declamatory
- gabble
- loose
- mumble
- pipe
- ramble
- rattle on/away
- stage whisper
- talk trashidiom
- throwyourvoiceidiom
- trash
- trill
- word salad
- yak
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Animal physiology: breathing & stopping breathing
Sounds made by humans with their mouths
Sounds made by objects, movement or impact
Examplesofspluttering
spluttering
In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.
There is nothing more off-putting than trying to make a speech on an important subject and hearing someone coughing andsplutteringbehind.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
You get out on to a narrow platform with a miserable,splutteringgas lamp.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
It is rather like the last fewsplutteringturns of an extinguishing catherine wheel.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Slowly, in all the different forums in which these matters are discussed, there seems to be asplutteringinto life of one sort or another.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
They become almost like doctors' surgeries when children are coughing andsplutteringbecause of dampness in the house.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
We shall get our oil on a commercial basis or not at all, and we have already, 7½ years ago, seen one desert pipeline broken andsplutteringin the sand.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
But many homeless people try to avoid using such provision, being understandably reluctant to spend the night in a vast dormitory in the company of coughing,spluttering, alcoholic older men.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Splutteringpupils emerged, asking what was happening.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The song is a rich,splutteringwarble and the bird is more often heard than seen.
From
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Suddenly it commencedsplutteringand rising with incredible rapidity, causing a general stampede among our company, who all moved around to the windward side of the geyser.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.