說話時聲音卡住、重複
這是核心畫面最直接的樣子：卡住的是人講話的聲音。
verb · B2
To speak in a way where a sound or a short word gets stuck and repeats, so that a word needs several tries before it comes out.
口吃／結巴
核心畫面
You can think of stutter as sound that will not come out in one piece. Everything upstream is ready — the thought, the sentence, the word — but one sound catches at the front, so it repeats or holds until it finally releases and the rest of the sentence runs on. Hold that picture of a flow that keeps catching and restarting, and both the human and the mechanical uses of the word come from the same place.
stutter 的核心畫面可以想成「該一路流出去的東西，在最前面卡住了」。想說的話早就準備好了，句子也在腦裡排好了，…更多收起
stutter 的核心畫面可以想成「該一路流出去的東西，在最前面卡住了」。想說的話早就準備好了，句子也在腦裡排好了，可是第一個音頂在那裡出不去，於是它重複、停住、再推一次，直到終於鬆開，後面的話才順著跑完。把這個「一直卡住、一直重來」的畫面記住，人講話的 stutter 和機器運轉的 stutter 就是同一件事的兩個場景。From the word’s history
Recorded as coming from Middle English stutten / stoten, and cognate with Dutch stotteren. Words in this group carry a sense of knocking or butting repeatedly, which fits the picture of a sound that pushes, catches, and pushes again.
來源記載為中古英文的 stutten、stoten，跟荷蘭文 stotteren 同源。這一族的字帶著「一下一下頂、撞」的意思，正好對得上「聲音推一次、卡住、再推一次」的畫面。
Wiktionary entry for 'stutter' as supplied in this evidence packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:466666789): "From Middle English stutten, stoten (stutter); cognate with Dutch stotteren (stutter)."
Two branches
機器運轉斷斷續續
同樣是「該順順流過去的東西一直卡住」，只是卡住的不是聲音，而是動力或畫面。這是概念上的延伸，不是另一個來源。
verb · C1
If a machine, an engine or a picture on a screen stutters, it runs in short broken bursts instead of smoothly, making small repeated noises or jumping and stopping.
（機器）運轉不順、斷斷續續
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
stutterverb/ˈstʌtɚ/
- 1
To speak (words) with a spasmodic repetition of vocal sounds.
- He stuttered a few words of thanks.
- 2
To expel a gas with difficulty.
- I was stuttering after the marathon.
- The engine of the old car stuttered going up the slope.
stutternoun/ˈstʌtɚ/
- 1
A speech disorder characterized by stuttering.
- 2
obsoleteOne who stutters.
- 1626, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum, London: William Lee, IV. Century, p. 103, And many Stutters (we finde) are very Cholericke Men; Choler Enducing a Drinesse in the Tongue.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。