falter
/ˈfɔːltə(r)/
The economy shows no signs of faltering.
Her courage never faltered.
The economy is beginning to falter.
The team’s performance faltered badly after the break.
Collocations
adverb
verb + falter
begin to
His voice faltered as he began his speech.
3 intransitive to walk or behave in a way that shows that you are not confident She walked up to the platform without faltering.
He never faltered in his commitment to the party.
Word Origin
late Middle English (in the senses ‘stammer’ and ‘stagger’): perhaps from the verb fold (which was occasionally used of the faltering of the legs or tongue) + -ter as in totter.
e.g.