utter

adjective

1. 1

   To the furthest or most extreme extent; absolute, complete, total, unconditional.

   utter bliss utter darkness utter ruin

   Oh VVarvvicke, VVarvvicke, I foreſee vvith greefe / The vtter loſſe of all the Realme of France.

   But thou art altogether giuen ouer: and vvert indeede but for the light in thy face, the ſonne of vtter darkneſſe.

   [T]here are Phlegeton and Pyriphlegeton, that fall in vvith Cocytus (burning Riuers) In vvhich (tho they be dreadfull to looke vpon) are no vtter danger: If the Ferryman vvaft you ſafely, ouer the vvaters of Repentance, othervviſe theſe hot liquors vvill ſcalde you.

2. 2

   rareOf a substance: pure, unmixed.

   Two cups of utter silver wrought and rough with imagery / I give you, which my father took from wracked Arisbe's hold; […]

3. 3

   Of decisions, replies, etc.: made in an unconditional or unqualified manner; decisive, definite.

   There could not then be any other eſtimate made of the loſs VValler ſuſtain'd, than by the not purſuing the viſible advantage he had, and by the utter refuſal of the Auxiliary Regiments of London and Kent, to march farther; […]

4. 4

   obsoleteFurther out than another thing; being the exterior or outer part of something; outer, outward; also, extremely remote.

   at the utter extremities of

   Wo be to you ſcrybꝭ [scrybis]⸝ ãd phariſes ypocritꝭ [ypocritis]⸝ for ye make clene the vtter ſide off the cuppe⸝ and off the platter: but with in they are full of brybery and exceſſe.

   And vvhile you in Time of divine Sacrifice, do faithfully and humbly, both in Heart and utter Geſture, agnize, reverence, and adore the ſame Fleſh in Subſtance, altho' unviſibly in the Sacrament, […] you thus doing, blaſpheme ſo great Myſtery, repute the Fleſh vvhereby I vvas redeemed, and the Blood of Chriſt vvhereby I vvas to be ſanctified, as a Thing common and pollute; […]

   [A]n hidden moth / The inner garment frett, not th’vtter touch; […]

5. 5

   obsoletePreceding all others; original.

   And although it [Persia] has ſince then been ruined and reigned ouer by Princes of many Nations, yet they haue neuer altered the Dialect from its vtter ſence, at this day being cald Pharſee: […]

6. 6

   obsoleteSucceeding all others; final, last, ultimate.

   Our vtter houre is come alas, fell deſtinies death hath brought.

noun

1. 1

   rareThe thing which is most utter (adjective sense) or extreme.

   I take my leave, readie to countervaile all your courtesies to the utter of my power.

verb

1. 1

   Senses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something Sometimes preceded by forth, out, etc.: to produce (a cry, speech, or other sounds) with the voice.

   Don’t you utter another word!

   I utter my langage or my voyce Ie profere, prime cõiuga. After your audyence utter your langage: Selon voſtre audiẽce profere; voſtre langaige.

   VViſdome cryeth vvithout: ſhe vttereth her voyce in the ſtretes.

   [T]here my fathers graue / Did vtter forth a voice.

2. 2

   Senses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something To verbally express or report (a desire or emotion, an idea or thought, etc.).

   Theeſe woords, vplifting both his hands, he to Iuppiter vttred.

   VVhom ſhe all careleſſe of his griefe conſtrayned / to vtter forth th' anguiſh of his hart: […]

   A clap thy ſelfe my Loue; then didſt thou vtter, / I am yours for euer.

   For thy mouth vttereth thine iniquitie, and thou chooſeſt the tongue of the craftie.

3. 3

   Senses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something To express (oneself) in speech or writing.

   [N]ovv and then nature is a fault, and this good gueſt of ours takes ſoyle in an unperfect body, and ſo is ſlackned from ſhevving her vvonders, like an excellent Muſician vvhich cannot utter himſelf upon a defective inſtrument.

   [A]t present several of our men of the town, and particularly those who have been polished in France, make use of the most coarse uncivilized words in our language, and utter themselves often in such a manner as a clown would blush to hear.

   I had tried to write a poetical epitaph, but in vain: my feelings refused to utter themselves in rhyme.

   Straying with Hilda through those long vistas of ideal beauty, he meant, at last, to utter himself upon that theme which lovers are fain to discuss in village-lanes, in wood-paths, on seaside sands, in crowded streets; […]

4. 4

   figurativeSenses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something Of a thing: to produce (a noise or sound); to emit.

   Sally’s car uttered a hideous shriek when she applied the brakes.

5. 5

   obsoleteSenses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something To disclose or reveal (something secret or unknown); to bring to light.

   He that vttereth my counſayle ones I wyll neuer truſte hym whyle I lyue: […]

   Silanus the Sooth-ſayer, vvho had vttered Xenophons purpoſe, vvas hereby ſtaied from out-running his fellovves, and driuen to abide vvith his vvealth among poore men, longer than ſtood vvith his good liking.

   [W]ith vvhat gravity and Majeſty of ſpeech his Tongue and Pen uttered Heavenly Myſteries; […]

6. 6

   obsoleteSenses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something To disclose or reveal the identity or nature of (oneself or someone, or something).

   [W]hẽ the vnclene ſpritꝭ ſawe him⸝ they fell doune before him⸝ and cryed ſayinge: thou arte the ſonne of God: And he ſtreyghtly charged thẽ that they ſhulde not vtter him.

   And Joſeph coude no longer refrayne before all them that ſtode about him⸝ but commaunded that they ſhuld goo all out from him⸝ and that there ſhuld be no man with him, whyle he vttred him ſelfe [i.e., disclosed his true identity] vnto his brethern.

   [T]he holy euangelyſt ſaynt John, whome Chriſte ſo tenderly loued, […] and to hym ſecretely he vttred the falſe diſſimuled traytor [Judas Iscariot], […] declareth here what a maner of faithful louer our holy ſauyour was, of whome hym ſelfe was ſo beloued.

   This lokyng about of Jeſus, was a geſture of hym that courteouſly requyred a confeſſion of the benefite receiued. He woulde not vtter her by name, leſte he ſhoulde haue ſemed to haue hit her in the teethe, wyth the good turne he dyd her. The woman, of a womanlye ſhamefaſteneſſe, and not of any vnthankfullneſſe, helde her peace.

7. 7

   obsoleteSenses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something To display or show (itself or something).

   [H]e [Jesus] ſhewed and vſed hymſelfe the moſte loweſt and meaneſte of al creatures, yet dyd he hyde within hym a ſecrete power of the nature of the godhed, which thã [than (i.e., then)] ⁊ neuer afore vttred it ſelfe, whan the grayne of his bodye was bruiſed on the croſſe: ⁊ was in deathe (as it were) burried within the grounde.

   […] Iuno, the Princeſſe, / Theare the pate, in digging, of an horſe intractabil vttred.

8. 8

   Senses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something To speak.

   The Souereyne and vnutterable God, is the Originall of all things; next vnto vvhom is his Prouidence as a ſecond God, vvho giueth the lavv aſvvell for the temporall as for the eternall life. And furthermore, there is a third ſubſtance as a ſecond Vnderſtanding, vvhich is the keeper of the ſayd eternall Lavve. The higheſt God commaundeth, the ſecond ordereth, and the third vttereth or publiſheth.

   Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conſcience, above all liberties.

   "Don’t worry about me," he uttered with minimum lip movement.

9. 9

   Senses relating to expressing sounds, etc., or disclosing something Of words, etc.: to be spoken.

   [Y]ea many gods, / Had voices more than all the winds, with power / To exhilarate the spirit, and to soothe, / Through every clime, the heart of human kind. / While this was uttering, strange as it may seem, / I wondered not, although I plainly saw / The one to be a stone, the other a shell; […]

10. 10

    archaicSenses relating to issuing something. To publish (something).

    [Y]ᵉ same [the book] was well vtteryd by yᵉ printar, & well lyked of in yᵉ comon weale, […]

11. 11

    Senses relating to issuing something. To put (currency or other valuable items) into circulation; specifically, to pass off (counterfeit currency, etc.) as legal tender; to use (a forged cheque) as if genuine.

    […] Memory, which laying by, preſeruing and imprinting in it ſelfe al the Images and formes of viſible & intelligible things, could not vtter them in time conuenient and diſpoſe them to the tongue and penne, vnleſſe it had ſo ordered, and oftentimes recounted them, […]

    [T]he variouſly denominated Attic Obolus, vvith the Head of Minerva and Noctua, of as vulgar Uſe as our Farthings, but hardly by half ſo large as the Tokens vvhich every Tavern and Tippling-Houſe (in the days of late Anarchy among us) preſum'd to ſtamp and utter for immediate Exchange, as they vvere paſſable through the Neighbourhood, […]

    [S]ince the Lavv does not oblige us to receive this Coyn, and conſequently the Patent leaves it to our Voluntary Choice, there is nothing remaining to preſerve us from Ruin but that the vvhole Kingdom ſhould continue in a firm determinate Reſolution never to Receive or Utter this FATAL Coyn: […]

    The Man vvho is vvantonly profuſe of his Promiſes ought to ſink his Credit as much as a Tradeſman vvould by uttering great Numbers of Promiſſory Notes, payable at a diſtant Day. The trueſt Concluſion in both Caſes is, that neither intend, or vvill be able to pay.

12. 12

    figurativeSenses relating to issuing something. To put (currency or other valuable items) into circulation; specifically, to pass off (counterfeit currency, etc.) as legal tender; to use (a forged cheque) as if genuine. To pass off (something fake) as a genuine item.

    Centaure, hovv our iudgements vvere impos'd on by theſe adulterate knights! / Cen[taure]. Nay, madame, Mavis vvas more deceiu'd then vve, 'tvvas her commendation vtter'd 'hem in the colledge.

    [T]he great bards / Of Greece, of Rome, and mine own master land, / […] / Men who have forged gods—uttered—made them pass: […]

13. 13

    obsoleteSenses relating to issuing something. To supply (something); to furnish, to provide.

    [T]he mixt earth, vvhich vtters VVhinns, Briars, and a vvorld of ſuch like vnnatural and baſtardly Iſſues.

14. 14

    obsoleteSenses relating to issuing something. To offer (something, such as goods) for barter or sale; also, to sell (something); to vend.

    […] certayne Merchants […] obteyned licence ſafely to arriue here in Ireland with their wares, and to vtter the ſame.

    Such mortall drugs I haue, but Mantuas lavve / Is death to any he that vtters them.

    Beautie is bought by iudgement of the eye, / Not vttred by baſe ſale of chapmens tongues: […]

    [D]oe not al Trades liue by their vvare, and yet cald honeſt Liuers? doe they not thriue beſt, vvhen they vtter moſte, and make it avvay by the great?

15. 15

    obsoleteSenses relating to issuing something. To announce that (something) is available for sale; to cry.

16. 16

    obsoleteSenses relating to issuing something. To distribute or issue (something) from, or as if from, a stock of items.

    He had alſo ſet a prieſt of his and a ſeculer ſeruaunt of his beſyde to by [buy] many of the ſame ſuyte [of books], & double and treble of one ſorte, whiche were by thẽ [them] vttred to diuers yonge ſcholers ſuch as thei founde properly witted, feately lerned, and newfangly mynded.

17. 17

    Senses relating to issuing something. To discharge or send out (something); to eject, to emit.

    God proſper you, to the uttering all hollovv Harts of England.

    As fier being encloſed in a ſtraite place, wil by force vtter his flãme, […] ſo thys cãcard crocodrile, ⁊ ſubtile ſerpent, could not lõg lurke in malicious hartes, nor venemous ſtomackes, but in cõcluſion ſhe muſt (according to her nature) apere ⁊ ſhew her ſelf.

    Seeſt not thilke ſame Hawthorne ſtudde, / How bragly it beginnes to budde, / And vtter his tender head?

    And moſt deare Actors, eate no Onions, nor garlicke: for vve are to vtter ſvveete breath: and I do not doubt but to hear them ſay, it is a ſvveete Comedy.

18. 18

    obsoleteSenses relating to issuing something. Of goods: to be purchased; to sell.

    This crockery is popular and utters well.

adverb

1. 1

   obsoleteFurther apart, away, or out; outside, without.

   A strawe, sayde Bele, stande vtter, / For we haue egges and butter, / And of pygeons a payre.

   Gyue this gentylman rome, syrs, stonde vtter!

2. 2

   obsoleteTo an extreme extent; altogether, quite.

   I knovv they vvill deny me gracious Madame, / Being a ſtranger, and ſo little fam'd / So vtter emptie of theſe excellencies / That tame authority; […]

Forms

comparative

uttermore

superlative

utmost, uttermost

past tense

uttered

past participle

uttered

present participle

uttering

third person singular

utters