hem and haw

hem and haw
    v 1: utter `hems' and `haws'; indicated hesitation; "He hemmed
         and hawed when asked to address the crowd"
    

67 Moby Thesaurus words for "hem and haw":
      about the bush, back and fill, back down, balance, beat around,
      beg the question, debate, deliberate, demur, dodge, duck,
      equivocate, evade, falter, fear, fence, halt, hang back, haw,
      hedge, hem, hesitate, hover, hum, hum and haw, jib, mammer,
      mince the truth, mince words, palter, parry, pause, ponder,
      prevaricate, pull away, pull back, pussyfoot, put off, recoil,
      retreat, scruple, sheer off, shift, shift off, shilly-shally,
      shrink, shy, shy away, shy off, sidestep, stammer, step aside,
      stick at, stickle, stop to consider, straddle the fence, strain at,
      stumble, stutter, swerve, tergiversate, think twice about, waffle,
      ward off, weasel, withdraw, yield