Definition of "hesitate"

hesitate

/ˈhɛz.ɪ.teɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present hesitates, present participle hesitating, simple past and past participle hesitated
1. (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
  Quotations
  I shall not hesitate to declare myself very cordially, in regard to some particulars about which you have desired an answer.
  September 1, 1742, Alexander Pope, letter to Racine
2. (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
3. (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
  Quotations
  Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.
  a. 1724, Alexander Pope, The Ms. at Longleat