stuttering

A phonatory or articulatory disorder, characteristically beginning in childhood, with intense anxiety about the efficiency of oral communications, and characterized by dysfluency: hesitations, repetitions, and prolongations of sounds and syllables, interjections, broken words, circumlocutions, and words produced with excess tension. SYN: logospasm (1).

- urinary s. frequent involuntary interruption occurring during the act of urination. SYN: stammering of the bladder.

* * *

stuttering n

1) the act of one who stutters

2) a disorder of vocal communication marked by involuntary disruption or blocking of speech (as by spasmodic repetition or prolongation of vocal sounds), by fear and anxiety, and by a struggle to avoid speech errors

* * *

n.

see stammering

* * *

stut·ter·ing (stutґər-ing) a 1. speech disorder involving three factors: (1) dysfluency with repetition of words and parts of words, prolongations of sounds, interjections of sounds or words, and long pauses; (2) listener reaction, considering the dysfluency to be abnormal or unacceptable; and (3) the speaker's reaction to the dysfluency and to the listener's reaction, with a self-conception as a stutterer. See also stammering. 2. something resembling this speech pattern.