fumble
Americanverb (used without object)
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fumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
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fumbled,
past participle, past
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fumbling
present participle
-
to feel or grope about clumsily.
She fumbled in her purse for the keys.
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Sports. to fumble the ball.
verb (used with object)
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fumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fumbled,
past participle, past
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fumbling
present participle
noun
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fumbles
plural
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the act of fumbling.
We completed the difficult experiment without a fumble.
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Sports. an act or instance of fumbling the ball.
verb
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(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
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(intr; foll by at or with) to finger or play with, esp in an absent-minded way
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to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly
he fumbled the introduction badly
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to fail to catch or grasp (a ball, etc) cleanly
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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fumblernoun
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fumblingnessnoun
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outfumbleverb (used with object)
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unfumbledadjective
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unfumblingadjective
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fumblinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fumblesimple
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fumblessimple
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have fumbledperfect
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has fumbledperfect
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am fumblingprogressive
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are fumblingprogressive
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is fumblingprogressive
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have been fumblingperfect progressive
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has been fumblingperfect progressive
Past
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fumbledsimple
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had fumbledperfect
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was fumblingprogressive
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were fumblingprogressive
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had been fumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fumble
1500–10; akin to Norwegian, Swedish fumla, Middle Low German fummeln to grope, fumble
Explanation
If you're a football fan you know all about the agony of the fumble — the clumsy handling of the ball that makes you drop it or lose possession. Fumbling is an uncoordinated movement that can involve your entire body, not just your hands. Witness the poor parent of a newborn trying to fumble with a diaper on at three in the morning. Fumble has a more metaphorical meaning as well, meaning to mess up or mishandle. Politicians are often accused of fumbling the major issues.
Vocabulary lists containing fumble
American Football, 2nd Quarter
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"Dulce et Decorum Est," by Wilfred Owen
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Slam!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The third play resulted in Malau’ulu getting sacked and losing the ball on a fumble in the end zone for a Bishop Gorman touchdown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
Bailey had a first-quarter sack, forced a third-quarter fumble and had four quarterback hits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
But, as any Alabamian will tell you, legends don’t fumble the football, and Apple’s grip on artificial intelligence technologies has been anything but secure.
From Barron's ● Apr. 20, 2026
We ate revuelta at his favorite pupuseria, hot filling running over our fingers, locals watching me fumble with the etiquette.
From Slate ● Apr. 12, 2026
They used to leave a key under the third brick in the garden, so I fumble around on my hands and knees, counting bricks and sifting dirt until I find that key.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
Which means some fumbles remain fumbles on my phone: “Fog” occasionally becomes “dog” and tennis star Carlos Alcaraz unfairly earns the surname Alcatraz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
He has registered 100 tackles, 7.5 sacks, nine passes defended and two forced fumbles during his time with the 49ers and Patriots.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
Maye was sacked five times and surrendered four fumbles in the Patriots' win over the Houston Texans last week.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
Two costly fumbles and two interceptions led to a nail-biter of a playoff game.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2026
He fumbles for the switch on the sconce nearest the door and it flickers to life, illuminating the room in front of him.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Centennial fumbled on its first possession to set up Petero’s two-yard TD run.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Quarterback Justin Herbert fumbled a handoff to running back Omarion Hampton on the Chargers’ second play from scrimmage, leading to a Rams field goal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
He thought he might never live down that fumbled opportunity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
The commentariat also is advancing the narrative that Apple under Cook’s leadership has fumbled badly in its embrace of artificial intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 21, 2026
She fumbled anxiously for her keys, forcing the door open roughly and stepping out into the early morning glare to get a better look.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Ice recalls fumbling with the door in the smoke-engulfed room as he tried to escape.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
"And, of course, the key to solving a problem is to understand why it's gone wrong. Otherwise, you're just fumbling in the dark."
From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026
As I followed a patrol of federal agents around New York City’s Chinatown during their fumbling attempted raid in mid-October last year, I noticed something curious.
From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2026
In the previously uncollected poems we find Heaney working out forms, responding to social occasions, sometimes fumbling or biding his time but always doing the digging with his pen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
I dozed off again, and after a while I felt a soft fumbling about my face, noiseless, like fingers on spindle cotton.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
