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Synonyms

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]

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.

Spend enough time scrolling online, and you’re bound to stumble across a photo of a mega-rest stop in Breezewood, Pennsylvania.

From Salon • Aug. 14, 2025

“I often fantasized that one day my dad would stumble across my face on a magazine cover and be overcome with regret for not getting to know such a wonderful girl,” writes Ione Skye.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2025

At one point, when asked if he brought classified material from the West Wing or Naval Observatory to his lake house in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden quipped about what someone in the home might stumble across:

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2024

"I've been off social media for a while now, anything I stumble across, I delete it from the phone," he said.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2023

He thought it was fitting for people to stumble across his magazine of stumbled across items.

From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher

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.