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In an indistinct manner; not clearly; confusedly; dimly; as, certain ideas are indistinctly comprehended. In its sides it was bounded distinctly, but on its ends confusedly an indistinctly. Sir I. Newton.

To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles.

To see with the eyes half shut, or indistinctly and with frequent winking, as a person with weak eyes. Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne. Shak.

To utter rapidly, idly, or indistinctly. Begin his witless note apace to chatter. Spenser.

Indistinctly crystalline; -- applied to rocks and minerals, whose state of aggregation is so fine that no distinct particles are visible, even under the microscope.

To grow dark; to show indistinctly. Thackeray.

To show indistinctly or become indistinct, as the picture on a negative sometimes does in the process of development.

To talk rapidly, indistinctly, or unintelligibly; to utter gibberish or nonsense; to chatter. Swift.

A genus of bacteria, characterized by having their filaments very long, slender, and indistinctly articulated.

To utter with imperfect articulation; to express with words pronounced imperfectly or indistinctly, as a child speaks; hence, to express by the use of simple, childlike language. To speak unto them after their own capacity, and to lispe words unto them according as the babes and children of that age might sound them ag…

To mutter; to mumble; to grumble; to speak indistinctly or disconnectedly; to talk incoherently. He was ever maundering by the how that he met a party of scarlet devils. Sir W. Scott.

To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.

To utter words indistinctly or with a low voice and lips partly closed; esp., to utter indistinct complains or angry expressions; to grumble; to growl. Wizards that peep, and that mutter. Is. viii. 19. Meantime your filthy foreigner will stare, And mutter to himself. Dryden.

Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed. The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night. Shak. The obscure corners of the earth. Sir J. Davies.

To pronounce indistinctly; as, to slur syllables.

To utter words hastily and indistinctly; to speak so rapidly as to emit saliva. They could neither of them speak their rage, and so fell a sputtering at one another, like two roasting apples. Congreve.

Indistinctly.