sputter

Hopes had been high that the eurozone's traditional growth engine would sputter back to life in 2026 after years of stagnation, driven by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's public spending blitz.

From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026

But there are signs the engine is beginning to sputter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

Detroit, which can sputter offensively, controls this one with tempo and physicality.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2025

The Falcons’ offense continues to sputter with turnovers and missed chances, while the Colts’ ground game and physicality give them an edge in Berlin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025

Each in turn screwed shut his eyes, turned red, and started to tear and sputter and bend over.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

The plot’s engine sputters as the film contentedly wafts just out of reach.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Thankfully, there are a few moments when the album sputters into life.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

When a guard tells them they just beat the clock, the nervous Ray-Ray sputters, “Oh we’re not together—right, Sal?. . . Um, I meant sir, not Sal—right, Sal?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

Small-cap companies tend to have weaker balance sheets, higher debt loads and can become more vulnerable to defaults than major corporations if the economy sputters.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 2026

Pattie steps back as Dell sputters: "I'm .. . behind on the laundry!"

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Quarterback Sam Darnold with a hip injury after the opening drive, and the offense sputtered in his absence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Lately, though, the rally has sputtered; all three major indexes are down this month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Sales at U.S. retailers in July had the largest decline in 14 months, but not because the economy sputtered.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

The investigation sputtered for decades because of a lack of evidence, but the cold case was revived with the publication in 2019 of Davis's memoirs.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

When I lit one, the flame sputtered only once, like a newborn’s first breath, before burning steadily.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

This marks the second round of capital infusion in less than two years and comes as China’s growth momentum is sputtering, with robust exports failing to offset the drag from tepid domestic demand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Instead, magnetron sputtering deposition creates the material from alloy vapor.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

To put things another way, the actual figures show the U.S. economy to be sputtering, and the “vibe economy” as measured by consumer confidence is doing even worse.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

China’s economy has been sputtering for a years, with consumers especially reluctant to spend, hurting some of those companies.

From Barron's ● May 31, 2026

He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling