mutter

«mutter» in Mova's school dictionary: To speak quietly and unclearly, often to yourself, so… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (mutter, mutters, muttered, muttering); noun (a mutter)

meaning for a pupil

1) To speak quietly and unclearly, often to yourself, so others cannot hear well. tree →

2) To complain quietly, often in an angry or grumpy way: muttering about the rain. tree →

3) (noun) Quiet, unclear speech: a mutter of complaint. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories, «muttered» is a speech verb that shows a character is grumpy, shy or secretive, instead of plain «said». In everyday life adults tell children «don't mutter, speak up». Phrases: mutter to yourself, mutter under your breath, mutter about.

examples

• «This isn't fair,» he muttered. tree →
• She muttered something I couldn't hear. tree →
• Grandpa muttered about the price of bread. tree →
• Speak up, don't mutter! tree →
• The wizard muttered a spell under his breath. tree →
• The crowd began to mutter angrily. tree →
• I heard a mutter from the back of the class. tree →
• He muttered to himself as he searched for his keys. tree →
• “'He is coming!' said the people,” muttered old Iktomi. tree →

note

Regular verb: muttered, muttering (double t already). Similar: mumble (unclear), grumble (complain), whisper (soft but clear). Good word for writing instead of «said».

In the corpora

• The Rabbit mutters "The Duchess!
• Alice mutters "It's really dreadful, the way all the creatures argue.
• He dug up his tunnel: «he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged», muttering to himself «Up we go!
• Then he mutters: «What a pig I have been!
• Inside, Toad is still muttering «But it was fun, though!

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mutter» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.