Meaning of HESITATE
| Pronunciation: | | 'hezi`teyt
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [v] pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness; "Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures."
- [v] interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing; "The speaker paused"
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| | Synonyms: | | pause, waffle, waver |
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| | See Also: | | beat around the bush, boggle, delay, doubt, dwell on, falter, hem and haw, hover, linger, linger over, oscillate, scruple, vacillate, vibrate | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
\Hes"i*tate\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Hesitated}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Hesitating}.] [L. haesitatus, p. p. of haesitare,
intens. fr. haerere to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold
fast. Cf. {Aghast}, {Gaze}, {Adhere}.]
1. To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in
suspense or uncertainty as to a determination; as, he
hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often
hesitate in forming a judgment. --Pope.
2. To stammer; to falter in speaking.
Syn: To doubt; waver; scruple; deliberate; demur; falter;
stammer.
\Hes"i*tate\, v. t.
To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant
manner. [Poetic & R.]
Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. --Pope.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | alternate, back down, balance, balk, be dilatory, blench, boggle, call a recess, debate, delay, deliberate, demur, dither, equivocate, falter, fear, fight shy of, filibuster, flinch, fluctuate, fumble, gain time, halt, hang, hang back, hang fire, hang in doubt, hang off, have qualms, haver, haw, hem, hem and haw, hold back, hold off, hover, hum, hum and haw, jib, let up, make bones about, make time, mammer, pause, play for time, ponder, procrastinate, pull back, quail, recess, recoil, rest, retreat, scruple, shilly-shally, shrink, shrink from, shy, shy at, splutter, sputter, stall, stall for time, stall off, stammer, stick at, stickle, stooge around, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain, strain at, stumble, stutter, take a recess, talk against time, temporize, tergiversate, think twice, think twice about, vacillate, wait, waver, wince, withdraw, yield |
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