stumble across

Idioms  

1. Also, stumble on. Find by chance, discover or meet with unexpectedly. For example, When we were hiking up the mountain we stumbled across a few abandoned shepherd's huts, or At the flea market Alfred stumbled on a quite valuable old lithograph. This idiom uses stumble in the sense of “accidentally trip.” [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

We’d shoved the big brass bed we shared into the bay window, hoping a breath of cool night air would make a wrong turn and stumble across us.

From Literature

Scroll through TikTok and you may soon stumble across Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo cutting each other's hair, or boarding the Titanic in Edwardian dress.

From BBC

“Unless you stumble across a nest of gator eggs,” Rashawn added.

From Literature

The communal misery was intense if you happened to stumble across some sad pool of it.

From Salon

If you're worried a relative might stumble across the item they'd bought you while they bargain hunt you can always donate to a charity shop outside of your local area.

From BBC

Related Words

• arrive at
• catch
• reach
• seize
• take