Falter
(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. Falter
(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.
Falter
(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. Faltering
(Fal"ter*ing), a. Hesitating; trembling. "With faltering speech." Milton. — n. Falter; halting; hesitation.
— Fal"ter*ing*ly, adv.
Faluns
(||Fa`luns") n. [F.] (Geol.) A series of strata, of the Middle Tertiary period, of France, abounding
in shells, and used by Lyell as the type of his Miocene subdivision.
Falwe
(Fal"we) a. & n. Fallow. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Falx
(||Falx) n. [L., a sickle.] (Anat.) A curved fold or process of the dura mater or the peritoneum; esp.,
one of the partitionlike folds of the dura mater which extend into the great fissures of the brain.
Famble
(Fam"ble) v. i. [OE. falmelen; cf. SW. famla to grope, Dan. famle to grope, falter, hesitate,
Icel. falma to grope. Cf. Famble.] To stammer. [Obs.] Nares.
Famble
(Fam"ble), n. [Cf. Famble, v.] A hand. [Slang & Obs.] "We clap our fambles." Beau. & Fl.
Fame
(Fame) n. [OF. fame, L. fama, fr. fari to speak, akin to Gr. a saying, report, to speak. See
Ban, and cf. Fable, Fate, Euphony, Blame.]
1. Public report or rumor.
The fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house.
Gen. xlv. 16. 2. Report or opinion generally diffused; renown; public estimation; celebrity, either favorable or unfavorable; as,
the fame of Washington.
I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited.
Shak. Syn. — Notoriety; celebrity; renown; reputation.
