falter

1. (ambitransitive) To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.Examples: "And here he faltered forth his last farewell."; "With faltering speech and visage incomposed."ambitransitive

2. (figuratively) To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).Examples: "And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter."; "The most important foreign policy problem I faced was that of signaling to the world what kind of man I was and what sort of policies I intended to carry out. It was important that there be no hesitancy on my part — nothing to indicate that the U.S. government had faltered. It was equally important for the world to understand that I intended to continue the government's established foreign policies and maintain the alliances of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy — policies of firmness on the one hand and an effort to thaw the Cold War on the other."figuratively