different between shudder vs falter

English

Etymology

From Middle English *shudderen, *schuderen (suggested by Middle English shuddering, schudering (“shaking, quivering, shuddering”)), from Middle Dutch schudderen and/or Middle Low German schodderen, iterative forms of the verb at hand in Dutch schudden, Low German schüdden (both “to shake”), German schütten (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *skudjan?, from Proto-Indo-European *skewd?-. From Low German are also borrowed German schaudern (“to shudder”), Danish skudre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???d?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /???d?/
• Homophone: shutter (accents with flapping)
• Rhymes: -?d?(?)
• Hyphenation: shud?der

Noun

shudder (plural shudders)

1. A shivering tremor, often from fear or horror.
2. A moment of almost pleasurable fear; a frisson.

Synonyms

• (shivering tremor): jiggle, quake, rumble, quiver
• (frisson): shiver (cold), quiver, tingle, thrill

Translations

Verb

shudder (third-person singular simple present shudders, present participle shuddering, simple past and past participle shuddered)

1. (intransitive) To shake nervously, often from fear or horror.
2. (intransitive) To vibrate jerkily.

Synonyms

• (shake nervously): palpitate, shiver, shake, quake
• (vibrate jerkily): flutter, jiggle, shake, wiggle

Translations

See also

• judder

References

English

Alternative forms

• faulter (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English falteren (“to stagger”), further origin unknown. Possibly from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse faltrask (“be encumbered”). May also be a frequentative of fold, although the change from d to t is unusual.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f??lt?(r)/, /?f?lt?(r)/

Noun

falter

1. unsteadiness.

Translations

Verb

falter (third-person singular simple present falters, present participle faltering, simple past and past participle faltered)

1. To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off.
   • 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds

     He found his legs falter.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.
   • 1807, Lord Byron, Childish Recollections

     And here he faltered forth his last farewell.
3. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought.
   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening

     Here indeed the power of distinctly conceiving of space and distance falters.

4. To stumble.
5. (figuratively) To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).

   • And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter.

6. To hesitate in purpose or action.
7. To cleanse or sift, as barley.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References