%tamm%

n. [ OF. estamel; cf. OF. estamet a coarse woolen cloth, LL. stameta a kind of cloth, the same as staminea, and OF. estame a woolen stuff. See Stamin. ] 1. A kind of woolen cloth formerly in use. It seems to have been often of a red color. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A red dye, used in England in the 15th and 16th centuries. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of the color of stammel; having a red color, thought inferior to scarlet. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Stammered p. pr. & vb. n. Stammering. ] [ OE. stameren, fr. AS. stamur, stamer, stammering; akin to D. & LG. stameren to stammer, G. stammeln, OHG. stammalōn, stammēn, Dan. stamme, Sw. stamma, Icel. stama, stamma, OHG. & Dan. stam stammering, Icel. stamr, Goth. stamms, and to G. stemmen to bear against, stumm dumb, D. stom. Cf. Stem to resist, Stumble. ] To make involuntary stops in uttering syllables or words; to hesitate or falter in speaking; to speak with stops and difficulty; to stutter. [ 1913 Webster ]

I would thou couldst stammer, that thou mightest pour this concealed man out of thy mouth, as wine comes out of a narrow-mouthed bottle, either too much at once, or none at all. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To utter or pronounce with hesitation or imperfectly; -- sometimes with out. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Defective utterance, or involuntary interruption of utterance; a stutter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who stammers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Apt to stammer; hesitating in speech; stuttering. -- Stam"mer*ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. (Physiol.) A disturbance in the formation of sounds. It is due essentially to long-continued spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm, by which expiration is prevented, and hence it may be considered as a spasmodic inspiration. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Heb. thammūz. ] 1. A deity among the ancient Syrians, in honor of whom the Hebrew idolatresses held an annual lamentation. This deity has been conjectured to be the same with the Phoenician Adon, or Adonis. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The fourth month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, -- supposed to correspond nearly with our month of July. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Tammies 1. A kind of woolen, or woolen and cotton, cloth, often highly glazed, -- used for curtains, sieves, strainers, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sieve, or strainer, made of this material; a tamis. [ 1913 Webster ]