PALTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does palter mean? 

• PALTER (verb)
  The verb PALTER has 1 sense:

1. be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

  Familiarity information: PALTER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PALTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they palter    ... he / she / it palters   
Past simple: paltered   
Past participle: paltered   
-ing form: paltering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

beat around the bush; equivocate; palter; prevaricate; tergiversate

Hypernyms (to "palter" is one way to...):

misinform; mislead (give false or misleading information to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

paltering (a trivial act of lying or being deliberately unclear)

 Context examples 

Why should you palter with magazines?

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Loving you, he should, in the name of common sense, be doing something that would give him the right to marry, instead of paltering around with those stories of his and with childish dreams.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)