halting

comparative more halting · superlative most halting

1. Prone to pauses or breaks; hesitant; broken.

   her halting steps

   3 more examples

   his halting speech

   Him we enlisted at Para, on the recommendation of the steamship company, on whose vessels he had learned to speak a halting English.

   1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

   Her husband spoke to the Indian in halting Sioux, but Horse Ears was wise. He did not answer.

   1950, Dorothy M. Johnson, Flame on the Frontier; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 28

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of halt

plural haltings

1. The action of one who halts; a stopping or hesitancy.

   But alas ! alas ! the faintings, the haltings, the back-slidings of Christians, are enough to make us tremble while we rejoice in the hope set before us.

   1841, George Mogridge, Thoughts for the thoughtful, by old Humphrey, page 167

   Synonyms: hiatus, moratorium, recess