mindmap root((结巴)) stammer implies a temporary inhibition from fear, embarrassment, or shock: ~ed his thanks, overcome with embarrassment. stutter is likely to suggest a habitual defect characterized by repetition of sounds, but it may apply to a similar manifestation due to a temporary cause: ~s when excited; or even, as may stammer, to something suggesting the pattern of a stutterer: the engine ~ed then came to life.