fumble

American  

[fuhm-buhl] / ˈfʌm bəl /

verb (used without object)

fumbled, fumbling

1. to feel or grope about clumsily.

   She fumbled in her purse for the keys.

2. Sports. to fumble the ball.

---

verb (used with object)

fumbled, fumbling

1. to make, handle, etc., clumsily or inefficiently.

   to fumble an attempt; He fumbled his way through the crowded room.

   Synonyms:

   muff, spoil, mishandle, botch, bungle

2. Sports. to fail to hold or maintain hold on (a ball) after having touched it or carried it.

noun

1. the act of fumbling.

   We completed the difficult experiment without a fumble.

2. Sports. an act or instance of fumbling the ball.

fumble British  

/ ˈfʌmbəl /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by for or with) to grope about clumsily or blindly, esp in searching

   he was fumbling in the dark for the money he had dropped

2. (intr; foll by at or with) to finger or play with, esp in an absent-minded way

3. to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly

   he fumbled the introduction badly

4. to fail to catch or grasp (a ball, etc) cleanly

---

noun

1. the act of fumbling

Other Word Forms

• fumbler noun
• fumblingly adverb
• fumblingness noun
• outfumble verb (used with object)
• unfumbled adjective
• unfumbling adjective

Etymology

Origin of fumble

1500–10; akin to Norwegian, Swedish fumla, Middle Low German fummeln to grope, fumble

Example Sentences

Booked to play his hit single Ordinary, the 25-year-old was seen fumbling with his earpiece and singing completely out of time with the backing track.

From BBC

Grandpa hurried behind the counter, opened a drawer, and started fumbling through some papers.

From Literature

I had fumbled and tripped and spilled the gold.

From Literature

I don’t think I would’ve made this record if I hadn’t fumbled the ball a little.

From Los Angeles Times

He fumbled unfolding it, one edge of the paper getting stuck against the other side.

From Literature

Related Words

• botch
• flub
• mishandle
• screw up
• stumble