different between loiter vs hesitate

English

Etymology

From Middle English loitren, from Middle Dutch loteren (“to shake, wag, wobble”), ultimately connected with a frequentative form of Proto-Germanic *l?tan? (“to bend, stoop, cower, shrink from, decline”), see lout. Cognate with Dutch leuteren (“to dawdle”), Alemannic German lottern (“to wobble”), German Lotterbube (“rascal”). More at lout, little.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l??t?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?l??t?/, [?l?j??]
• Rhymes: -??t?(r)

Verb

loiter (third-person singular simple present loiters, present participle loitering, simple past and past participle loitered)

1. To stand about without any aim or purpose; to stand about idly.

   Synonyms: (Malaysia, Singapore) lepak, linger, hang around

2. To remain at a certain place instead of moving on.
3. (military, aviation) For an aircraft to remain in the air near a target.

Derived terms

• loiter time

Translations

Noun

loiter (plural loiters)

1. A standing or strolling about without any aim or purpose.
   • 1865, Edward Spooner, Parson and People (page 125)

     Oh, Sir, we just got up in the morning and had a loiter and a pipe on the green; then we got our breakfasts; […]

Anagrams

• Loiret, Lortie, toiler, triole

English

Alternative forms

• hæsitate (archaic)

Etymology

From Latin haesitatus, past participle ofhaesitare, intensive of haerere (“to hesitate, stick fast;to hang or hold fast”). Compare aghast, gaze, adhere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?z?te?t/

Verb

hesitate (third-person singular simple present hesitates, present participle hesitating, simple past and past participle hesitated)

1. (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
   • September 1, 1742, Alexander Pope, letter to Racine

     I shall not hesitate to declare myself very cordially, in regard to some particulars about which you have desired an answer.

2. (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
3. (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
   • a. 1724, Alexander Pope, The Ms. at Longleat

     Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (to stop respecting decision or action): demur, falter, mammer, scruple, waver; see also Thesaurus:hesitate
• (to falter in speaking): balbucinate, balbutiate, falter, hem, haw, stammer, stutter
• (to utter with hesitation): falter

Derived terms

• hesitant
• hesitation

Translations

Further reading

• hesitate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• hesitate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• hesitate at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• athetise, hatesite