hesitate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
    waver; waffle.
    • Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures
  2. verb interrupt temporarily an activity before continuing
    pause.
    • The speaker paused

WordNet

Hes"i*tate intransitive verb
Etymology
L. haesitatus, p. p. of haesitare, intens. fr. haerere to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast. Cf. Aghast, Gaze, Adhere.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Hesitated ; present participle & verbal noun Hesitating
Definitions
  1. To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination; as, he hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often hesitate in forming a judgment. Pope.
  2. To stammer; to falter in speaking. Syn. -- To doubt; waver; scruple; deliberate; demur; falter; stammer.
Hes"i*tate transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner. Poetic & R.
    Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike. Pope.

Webster 1913