utter
part of speech
verb (utter, utters, uttered, uttering); adjective (utter)
meaning for a pupil
1) (verb) To say something or make a sound with your voice. tree →
2) (adjective) Complete; total: utter silence, utter nonsense. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: To speak a vow aloud. A vow counted only when the lips said it clearly. Interpretation: Tradition teaches that a vow binds when the mouth speaks it, so the Torah warns people to guard what comes out of their lips. A false report is also forbidden speech. In the primary lessons: The verb is used in stories: «She did not utter a word.» The adjective strengthens a noun, often for bad things: «an utter mess», «utter rubbish». In everyday talk «utterly» means completely.
examples
- Thou shalt not utter a false report; put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. (Torah EXO.23.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When a man shall clearly utter a vow of persons unto the LORD, according to thy valuation, (Torah LEV.27.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When either man or woman shall clearly utter a vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the LORD, (Torah NUM.6.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- Let my lips utter praise: because Thou teachest me Thy statutes. (Writings PSA.119.171, JPS 1917) tree →
- Surely my lips shall not speak unrighteousness, neither shall my tongue utter deceit; (Writings JOB.27.4, JPS 1917) tree →
- Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter confused things. (Writings PRO.23.33, JPS 1917) tree →
- He was so shocked he could not utter a word. tree →
- The room fell into utter silence. tree →
- What you said is utter nonsense! tree →
- The baby uttered a tiny squeak. tree →
- My bedroom is an utter mess. tree →
- Don't utter a sound while the deer are near. tree →
- The King could not utter a word for several minutes. tree →
note
The adjective goes before a noun only: «utter chaos», not «the chaos was utter». Takes «an»: «an utter disaster». Verb is regular: uttered. «Utterly» = completely. Do not confuse with «otter» (the animal) or «udder» (part of a cow).
In the corpora
- Thou shalt not utter a false report; put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
- But if thou utter this our business, then we will be guiltless of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.'
- A wind too strong for this shall come for Me; now will I also utter judgments against them.
- Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night revealeth knowledge;
- The mouth of the righteous uttereth wisdom, and his tongue speaketh justice.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «utter» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.