muttering

«muttering» in Mova's school dictionary: -ing form of mutter: he was muttering to himself — 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

noun (muttering, mutterings); verb form (present participle of mutter)

meaning for a pupil

1) (verb form) -ing form of mutter: he was muttering to himself. tree →

2) (noun) Quiet, unclear speech, often complaining: we heard muttering at the back. tree →

3) (mutterings, plural) Quiet complaints or rumours from a group: mutterings of discontent. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories «muttering» shows grumpy or secret talk; in news «mutterings» means people are quietly unhappy. Phrases: muttering under his breath, mutterings about, muttering to herself.

examples

• The old man walked off, muttering to himself. tree →
• There was muttering in the crowd when the match was delayed. tree →
• Stop muttering and tell me what's wrong. tree →
• I could hear her muttering about homework. tree →
• Mutterings spread through the class when the test was announced. tree →
• He was muttering spells from his book. tree →
• But the dwarfs came a step nearer, muttering and whispering. tree →

note

From the verb mutter (+ing). As a noun it is often plural: «mutterings». Similar: grumbling, mumbling.

In the corpora

• He dug up his tunnel: «he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged», muttering to himself «Up we go!
• Inside, Toad is still muttering «But it was fun, though!
• Rudeness to adults comes in many forms: shouting at the coach, mocking an accent, muttering, slamming a door.
• Muttering rude words under your breath is still being rude if the other person hears.
• The boys look at her, look at each other, and drift off muttering.

Trees and pragmatics

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