stumble
to strike the foot against something, as in walking or running, so as to stagger or fall; trip.
to walk or go unsteadily: to stumble down a dark passage.
to make a slip, mistake, or blunder, especially a sinful one: to stumble over a question; to stumble and fall from grace.
to proceed in a hesitating or blundering manner, as in action or speech (often followed by along).
to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usually followed by on, upon, or across): They stumbled on a little village.
to falter or hesitate, as at an obstacle to progress or belief.
to cause to stumble; trip.
to give pause to; puzzle or perplex.
the act of stumbling.
a moral lapse or error.
a slip or blunder.
Origin of stumble
1Other words from stumble
- stumbler, noun
- stum·bling·ly, adverb
- un·stum·bling, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use stumble in a sentence
The CDA was passed not in the name of censorship but in the name of protecting children from stumbling across sexual material.
In the edited conversation below, Earley, 53, talks of Ernest Hemingway, technical challenges, and stumbling toward the light.
Slayman eased the young man—Matt, from Pennsylvania—out of the car and got him on his stumbling way.
A Report From the Misunderstood Gathering of the Juggalos | Steve Miller | July 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI carried the puppy up the hill, stumbling under the weight.
If I could sum it up in a few choice words, I would, but instead I hem and haw, before stumbling through some rambling rejoinder.
Fear And Self-Loathing In Scandinavia: The Fiction Of Karl Ove Knausgaard | Ted Gioia | May 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He walked about, stumbling over sticks and stones and stumps, sometimes falling down on soft moss, and again on the hard ground.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumThe lowing of cattle and the soft stumbling tread of many unshod feet told him that some one was approaching.
The Red Year | Louis TracyHow I do wish sometimes to give Ritchie a jog, when there is some stumbling-block that he sticks fast at.
The Daisy Chain | Charlotte YongeThis design reveals a stumbling-block that superficial people fall over.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis TrevithickAt this critical moment feet were heard clattering and stumbling up the stair as if in tremendous haste.
The Garret and the Garden | R.M. Ballantyne
British Dictionary definitions for stumble
/ (ˈstʌmbəl) /
to trip or fall while walking or running
to walk in an awkward, unsteady, or unsure way
to make mistakes or hesitate in speech or actions
(foll by across or upon) to come (across) by accident
to commit a grave mistake or sin
a false step, trip, or blunder
the act of stumbling
Origin of stumble
1Derived forms of stumble
- stumbler, noun
- stumbling, adjective
- stumblingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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