sputters
Coughs before dying
Sputters is the third-person singular of sputter—to make a series of soft explosive sounds, like an engine struggling to run or fat crackling in a pan: The old car sputters and dies.
To sputter is also to speak in a choppy, agitated way, often from anger or confusion: He sputtered objections but couldn't form a coherent argument.
Something that sputters along proceeds fitfully, without momentum.
Speak with involuntary repetitions
- stutterInvoluntary speech repetition
- stumbleLose footing momentarily
- falterLose momentum or steadiness
- garbleDistort into confusion
mumble · babble · gasp · choke · fumble · tongue-tied · incoherent · flustered
Failure to discharge
- stallEnclosed compartment or delay
- backfireYield unintended consequences
- chokeObstruct breathing or airflow
- coughExplosive airway clearing
knock · judder · hiccup · malfunction · breakdown · overheat · seize · grind
stammer
Speak with involuntary repetitions
- stutterInvoluntary speech repetition
- stumbleLose footing momentarily
- falterLose momentum or steadiness
garble · mumble · babble · gasp · choke · fumble · tongue-tied · incoherent · flustered · blurt
misfire
Failure to discharge
- stallEnclosed compartment or delay
- backfireYield unintended consequences
- chokeObstruct breathing or airflow
cough · knock · judder · hiccup · malfunction · breakdown · overheat · seize · grind · clatter
flicker
Unsteady, brief light
gutter · die · extinguish · candle · torch · lantern · wick · embers · spitting · hiss
outrage
Fierce moral indignation
exclaim · bluster · fume · rant · bristle · harrumph · exasperation · objection · huffing · apoplectic
- setbacksfailing, back to square one, stuck, losing, stumbles
sputterspurrs
Vibrates with contentment
hums · roars · fires on all cylinders · thrums · drones
sputtersflows
Moves in a current
enunciates · orates · declaims · holds forth · articulates
- sputter outFail gradually, weakly
- sputtered outFailed in irregular bursts
- sputtering outEnding in fitful gasps