支吾

Etymology
The semantic development was “to support > to resist; to defy > to cope with; to deal with > to (fail to) resist > to stall off; to boggle > to falter; to equivocate”. All other senses are basically obsolete in the modern language.

Verb

 * 1) to falter; to prevaricate; to equivocate
 * 2)  to deal with a person just for the occasion
 * 3)  to prop up; to support
 * 4)  to resist; to defy; to oppose
 * 5)  to handle
 * 6)  to divert oneself from loneliness
 * 7)  to hesitate

Adjective

 * 1)  in a predicament