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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#m1)

2) (noun) Quiet, unclear speech, often complaining: we heard muttering at the back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#m2)

3) (mutterings, plural) Quiet complaints or rumours from a group: mutterings of discontent. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#m3)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x1)
- There was muttering in the crowd when the match was delayed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x2)
- Stop muttering and tell me what's wrong. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x3)
- I could hear her muttering about homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x4)
- Mutterings spread through the class when the test was announced. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x5)
- He was muttering spells from his book. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x6)
- But the dwarfs came a step nearer, muttering and whispering. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/muttering/#x7)

### 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!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/25-willows-ch1-part1-the-mole-meets-the-river/14/)
- [Inside, Toad is still muttering «But it was fun, though!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/65-willows-ch11-part1-why-steal-them/8/)
- [Rudeness to adults comes in many forms: shouting at the coach, mocking an accent, muttering, slamming a door.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/355-the-coach-the-lollipop-lady-slammed-doors-and-sorry/11/)
- [Muttering rude words under your breath is still being rude if the other person hears.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/355-the-coach-the-lollipop-lady-slammed-doors-and-sorry/19/)
- [The boys look at her, look at each other, and drift off muttering.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/370-standing-by-a-friend/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

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