falter into silence

[hhtt21]

"Hester's voice faltered into silence by the tempest of her tears and she groped blindly with her hand inside the crisp muslin fuchi which encircled her white shoulders."

Would you explain the phrase "faltered into silence"?

Source: The Unexpected Bride by Barbara Cartland.

Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

You usually offer us a selection of dictionary definitions to choose from.

You surely know what 'silence' means. Can you not infer the meaning of the phrase from the context?

 

[hhtt21]

You usually offer us a selection of dictionary definitions to choose from.

You surely know what 'silence' means. Can you not infer the meaning of the phrase from the context?

Yes I know silence but falter into silence is like an idiom and I need an explanation for it for a better understanding.

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you know what it means when someone's voice falters?

 

[hhtt21]

Do you know what it means when someone's voice falters?

Is it voice weakens?

Thank you.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Is it[/STRIKE] Does it mean that their voice weakens? ​(Don't put a space before a question mark.)

Thank you.

It sort of means that. Imagine that someone is giving a very emotional speech or reading, at a funeral for example. They might start strongly, but as the emotion of the occasion starts to affect them, they might have trouble speaking.

 

[GoesStation]

You usually offer us a selection of dictionary definitions to choose from.

I see their absence here as a sign that hhtt is taking our advice to heart by avoiding that habit.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree, to a point. The issue with previous links to dictionary definitions was that hhtt21 kept insisting that only one of them could possibly be correct. I'd at least like to have known that he/she had looked up "falter" or "falter into silence" before asking the question.

 

[Skrej]

Yes I know silence but falter into silence is like an idiom and I need an explanation for it for a better understanding.

Thank you.

I don't think there's anything idiomatic here. Once you know the meaning of 'falter', you should be able to understand the sentence, as it has a very literal meaning.