Hypertext Webster Gateway: "muttering"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mutter \Mut"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Muttered}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Muttering}.] [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. L. muttire,
mutire.]
1. To utter words indistinctly or with a low voice and lips
partly closed; esp., to utter indistinct complaints or
angry expressions; to grumble; to growl.
Wizards that peep, and that mutter. --Is. viii.
19.
Meantime your filthy foreigner will stare, And
mutter to himself. --Dryden.
2. To sound with a low, rumbling noise.
Thick lightnings flash, the muttering thunder rolls.
--Pope.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
muttering
adj : speaking low and indistinctly; "a mumbling parson stood
beside the dying man"; "muttering crowds of onlookers"
[syn: {mumbling}]
n 1: a low continuous indistinct sound; often accompanied by
movement of the lips without the production of
articulate speech [syn: {mutter}, {murmur}, {murmuring},
{murmuration}, {mussitation}]
2: a complaint uttered in a low and indistinct tone [syn: {grumble},
{grumbling}, {murmur}, {murmuring}, {mutter}]
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