as in to drool
to speak rapidly, inarticulately, and usually unintelligibly
she was so shocked that, for a moment, all she could do was sputter
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Recent Examples of sputter
Loading your audio article The Bay Area job market, a long-time engine for California’s economy, has sputtered badly in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, reflecting a profound shift in the fortunes of Silicon Valley.
—
George Avalos, The Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2025
China's exports in key industries, including autos, have been growing faster in volume than value, suggesting manufacturers are discounting to try to win overseas sales when demand at home has been sputtering.
—Kevin Krolicki and Qiaoyi Li, USA TODAY, 3 Feb. 2025
The Celtics were still on top of the world, while the Pacers sputtered out of the gate.
—Jared Weiss, The Athletic, 29 Dec. 2024
The initial rally of the country’s benchmark CSI 300 following the announcement has largely sputtered by now.
—Lee Ying Shan,ganesh Rao, CNBC, 16 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sputter
George Avalos, The Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2025
China's exports in key industries, including autos, have been growing faster in volume than value, suggesting manufacturers are discounting to try to win overseas sales when demand at home has been sputtering.
—Kevin Krolicki and Qiaoyi Li, USA TODAY, 3 Feb. 2025
The Celtics were still on top of the world, while the Pacers sputtered out of the gate.
—Jared Weiss, The Athletic, 29 Dec. 2024
The initial rally of the country’s benchmark CSI 300 following the announcement has largely sputtered by now.
—Lee Ying Shan,ganesh Rao, CNBC, 16 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sputter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sputter
Verb
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There’s a reason scouts once drooled over Williams’ potential.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2025
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Symptoms from scorpion stings — such as burning at the sting site, drooling.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Green shouted that the president did not have a mandate to cut Medicaid.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2025
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Also, shout out to Roan's left thumbnail, which is currently swathed in a Band-Aid.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
6 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Initially this seemed like a boon, and people chattered excitedly about how a notes call with Netflix execs would not leave you with myriad non-negotiable changes — for a time its appeal supplanted the Promised Land of HBO.—
Alex Levy,
IndieWire,
4 Mar. 2025
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Young people stand in between the gravestones, chattering, laughing and digging with shovels.—
Shira Li Bartov,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Ally and Jay are both sarcastic, too — their best lines are muttered under their breaths — and their repartee becomes more interesting than the bloody theatrics.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2025
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But unlike France — which has both Napoleonic history and darkly muttering existentialists wandering the streets of Paris to remind everyone just how bad things can get — we Americans have no natural immunity.—
Pat Beall,
Orlando Sentinel,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In addition to being ruled by the messenger planet, Mercury retrograde in your 11th house of associations, networks and community affairs could make the group chat a tad bit chaotic.—
Valerie Mesa,
People.com,
15 Mar. 2025
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But Phone-to-Android RCS chats only encrypt messages in transit, not end-to-end, potentially putting messages at risk of interception.—
Jibin Joseph,
PCMAG,
14 Mar. 2025
Verb
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But when the disheveled, withdrawn ex-friend shows up in the locker room gibbering about an evil spirit, Sam is mortified, impulsively knocking to the ground the grungy-looking Mason jar that Tamira has been carrying around.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
18 Sep. 2023
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For a while, police interest bent toward a Phud who had been warned he might be eliminated from the program, who had seemed almost exultant about the fire and gibbered gleefully about the media spotlight.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
13 Apr. 2018
Verb
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Context: Republican and Democratic congressional districts alike have been rattled by Musk's tactics for slashing government funding and terminating chunks of the federal workforce.—
Kristal Dixon,
Axios,
13 Mar. 2025
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In addition to intense uncertainty, Wall Street has been rattled by signs of a sputtering economy.—
Bryan Mena,
CNN,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Most children start stuttering between the ages of 2 and 5 years old and that stuttering has proven to be genetically based.—
Ryan Gaydos,
Fox News,
21 Feb. 2025
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As the fusion reactions in its core began to stutter, the radiation pressure of the energy produced in those reactions began to drop off.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
20 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sputter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sputter. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.
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