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# hesitate

«hesitate» in Mova's school dictionary: **To stop or pause before doing or saying something because…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (hesitate, hesitates, hesitated, hesitating)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To stop or pause before doing or saying something because you are unsure, nervous or worried. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#m1)

2) Don't hesitate to means feel free to do it at once: Don't hesitate to ask. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories it shows a character is unsure or afraid; in everyday and formal letters, don't hesitate to contact us. Phrases: hesitate to, without hesitating, he who hesitates is lost.

### examples

- She hesitated before jumping into the cold water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x1)
- Don't hesitate to ask if you need help. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x2)
- He answered without hesitating. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x3)
- I hesitated because I wasn't sure of the answer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x4)
- The cat hesitated at the edge of the wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x5)
- If you see a fire, don't hesitate, call 999. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x6)
- The kind children did not hesitate for an instant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/#x7)

### note

Past: hesitated. Noun: hesitation. Adjective: hesitant. Followed by to + verb: hesitate to say. In an emergency: 999 (UK, Ireland also 112), 911 (USA, Canada), 000 (Australia), 111 (NZ).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «hesitate» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hesitate/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.