stump
the lower end of a tree or plant left after the main part falls or is cut off; a standing tree trunk from which the upper part and branches have been removed.
the part of a limb of the body remaining after the rest has been cut off.
a part of a broken or decayed tooth left in the gum.
a short remnant, as of a candle; stub.
any basal part remaining after the main or more important part has been removed.
an artificial leg.
Usually stumps. Informal. legs: Stir your stumps and get out of here.
a short, stocky person.
a heavy step or uneven gait.
the figurative place of political speechmaking: to go on the stump.
Furniture. a support for the front end of the arm of a chair, sofa, etc.: Compare post1 (def. 2).
a short, thick roll of paper, soft leather, or some similar material, usually having a blunt point, for rubbing a pencil, charcoal, or crayon drawing in order to achieve subtle gradations of tone in representing light and shade.
Cricket. each of the three upright sticks that, with the two bails laid on top of them, form a wicket.
to reduce to a stump; truncate; lop.
to clear of stumps, as land.
Chiefly Southern U.S. to stub, as one's toe.
to nonplus, embarrass, or render completely at a loss: This riddle stumps me.
to challenge or dare to do something.
to make political campaign speeches to or in: to stump a state.
Cricket. (of the wicketkeeper) to put (a batsman) out by knocking down a stump or by dislodging a bail with the ball held in the hand at a moment when the batsman is off his ground.
to tone or modify (a crayon drawing, pencil rendering, etc.) by means of a stump.
to walk heavily or clumsily, as if with a wooden leg: The captain stumped across the deck.
to make political campaign speeches; electioneer.
Idioms about stump
up a stump, Informal. at a loss; embarrassed; perplexed: Sociologists are up a stump over the sharp rise in juvenile delinquency and crime.
Origin of stump
1Other words from stump
- stump·less, adjective
- stump·like, adjective
Words Nearby stump
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use stump in a sentence
This woman turned her tree stump into a Little Free Library fit for magical elves.
It’s like a Little Free Library, but there’s art inside. People are flocking to it, tiny art in hand. | Cathy Free | January 19, 2021 | Washington PostHe winds his way through a stump speech with the same inflections and cadences of a Southern preacher.
Raphael Warnock’s campaign for the moral high ground | Clyde McGrady | January 2, 2021 | Washington PostOnce you’re confident you can avoid rocks and stumps, there’s no need to delay the season further.
Prop it up in the fork of a tree or set it on a rock, stump or two forked prop sticks.
Winter survival shelters you should know how to build | By Tim MacWelch/Outdoor Life | December 21, 2020 | Popular-ScienceWearing a bandanna fashioned as a headband, a cut-off T-shirt and dark glasses, he was perched on a tree stump and pointing back at the camera.
States With Few Coronavirus Restrictions Are Spreading the Virus Beyond Their Borders | by David Armstrong | December 1, 2020 | ProPublica
They are model citizens, the kind of people whose lives might be used as exemplary stories by a politician in a stump speech.
Plus “The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth/And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath”?
Looking to turn back the tide or at least hold it back for one more election, Clinton will stump in Benton County next week.
Bubba Goes Back to the Briar Patch: Bill Clinton’s Arkansas Obsession | Patricia Murphy | October 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCNN posted a video of UPD Chief of Police Linda stump addressing the issue.
Republicans and Democrats love bashing lobbyists on the stump.
For hours the gray man would sit on a tombstone, while Black Sheep read epitaphs, and then with a sigh would stump home again.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingThe cigar stump held firmly between his teeth, he stood on the rug before the hearth, facing the door.
Dope | Sax RohmerBut, just as they were piling some more leaves in the hollow stump, they heard many voices of men shouting in the woods.
Squinty the Comical Pig | Richard BarnumMrs. Maloney sat on a stump near her daughter, and busied herself energetically with alternate nursing and painting.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon BlackwoodBy sheer good fortune a big tree stump stood under the door of the freight car, or the children never could have opened it.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
British Dictionary definitions for stump
/ (stʌmp) /
the base part of a tree trunk left standing after the tree has been felled or has fallen
the part of something, such as a tooth, limb, or blade, that remains after a larger part has been removed
informal, facetious
(often plural) a leg
stir one's stumps to move or become active
cricket any of three upright wooden sticks that, with two bails laid across them, form a wicket (the stumps)
Also called: tortillon a short sharply-pointed stick of cork or rolled paper or leather, used in drawing and shading
a heavy tread or the sound of heavy footsteps
a platform used by an orator when addressing a meeting
(often plural) Australian a pile used to support a house
on the stump mainly US and Canadian engaged in campaigning, esp by political speech-making
(tr) to stop, confuse, or puzzle
(intr) to plod or trudge heavily
(tr) cricket (of a fielder, esp a wicketkeeper) to dismiss (a batsman) by breaking his wicket with the ball or with the ball in the hand while he is out of his crease
mainly US and Canadian to campaign or canvass (an area), esp by political speech-making
(tr) to reduce to a stump; lop
(tr) to clear (land) of stumps
Origin of stump
1Derived forms of stump
- stumper, noun
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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