Fal"ter (?), v. t. To thrash in
the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley. [Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Fal"ter, v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Faltered (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Faltering.] [OE. falteren, faltren, prob. from
fault. See Fault, v. & n.]
1. To hesitate; to speak brokenly or weakly; to
stammer; as, his tongue falters.
With faltering speech and visage
incomposed.
Milton.
2. To tremble; to totter; to be
unsteady. "He found his legs falter."
Wiseman.
3. To hesitate in purpose or
action.
Ere her native king
Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms.
Shak.
4. To fail in distinctness or regularity of
exercise; -- said of the mind or of thought.
Here indeed the power of disinct conception of space
and distance falters.
I. Taylor.
Fal"ter, v. t. To utter with
hesitation, or in a broken, trembling, or weak manner.
And here he faltered forth his last
farewell.
Byron.
Mde me most happy, faltering "I am
thine."
Tennyson.
Fal"ter (?), n. [See Falter,
v. i.] Hesitation; trembling; feebleness; an
uncertain or broken sound; as, a slight falter in her
voice.
The falter of an idle shepherd's
pipe.
Lowell.
