stump

American  

[stuhmp] / stʌmp /

noun

• stumps
  plural

1. 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.

2. the part of a limb of the body remaining after the rest has been cut off.

3. a part of a broken or decayed tooth left in the gum.

4. a short remnant, as of a candle; stub.

5. any basal part remaining after the main or more important part has been removed.

6. an artificial leg.

7. Informal. Usually stumps. legs.

   Stir your stumps and get out of here.

8. a short, stocky person.

9. a heavy step or uneven gait.

10. the figurative place of political speechmaking.

    to go on the stump.

11. Furniture. a support for the front end of the arm of a chair, sofa, etc.

12. 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.

13. Cricket. each of the three upright sticks that, with the two bails laid on top of them, form a wicket.

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verb (used with object)

• stumps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stumped,
  past participle,  past
• stumping
  present participle

1. to reduce to a stump; truncate; lop.

2. to clear of stumps, as land.

3. Chiefly Southern U.S. to stub, as one's toe.

4. to nonplus, embarrass, or render completely at a loss.

   This riddle stumps me.

5. to challenge or dare to do something.

6. to make political campaign speeches to or in.

   to stump a state.

7. 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.

8. to tone or modify (a crayon drawing, pencil rendering, etc.) by means of a stump.

verb (used without object)

• stumps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stumped,
  past participle,  past
• stumping
  present participle

1. to walk heavily or clumsily, as if with a wooden leg.

   The captain stumped across the deck.

2. to make political campaign speeches; electioneer.

idioms

1. up a stump, at a loss; embarrassed; perplexed.

   Sociologists are up a stump over the sharp rise in juvenile delinquency and crime.

stump British  

/ stʌmp /

noun

1. the base part of a tree trunk left standing after the tree has been felled or has fallen

2. the part of something, such as a tooth, limb, or blade, that remains after a larger part has been removed

3. informal

   1. (often plural) a leg

   2. to move or become active

4. cricket any of three upright wooden sticks that, with two bails laid across them, form a wicket (the stumps )

5. Also called: tortillon. a short sharply-pointed stick of cork or rolled paper or leather, used in drawing and shading

6. a heavy tread or the sound of heavy footsteps

7. a platform used by an orator when addressing a meeting

8. (often plural) a pile used to support a house

9. engaged in campaigning, esp by political speech-making

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verb

1. (tr) to stop, confuse, or puzzle

2. (intr) to plod or trudge heavily

3. (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

4. to campaign or canvass (an area), esp by political speech-making

5. (tr) to reduce to a stump; lop

6. (tr) to clear (land) of stumps

Usage

What does stump mean? A stump is the base of a tree after the rest of the trunk has been cut down. In general, stump can refer to what’s left of something after the main part or majority of it has been cut off or removed. The word stub means the same thing and is perhaps more commonly used. When a person has had part of a limb removed, the remaining part is sometimes called a stump. A more technical term is residual limb. The word stump is also sometimes used to refer to a limb that has not fully developed. Though some people with limb differences may use the word stump to refer to their limb, others might find the word insensitive or offensive. In many cases, they may prefer for it to simply be called an arm, leg, or limb. An artificial leg can also sometimes be called a stump. The word stumps is sometimes used as a slang term for the legs. The word stump can refer to a platform for making speeches. This use isn’t common, but this sense of the word is commonly used in a figurative way to refer to the place where political campaign speeches are made, especially in the phrase on the stump, as in The senator went out on the stump to try to win re-election. A campaign speech can be called a stump speech. Stump can also be used as a verb meaning to campaign, as in He’s stumping in Iowa today or He has endorsed the senator and will be stumping for her. As a verb, stump can also mean to confuse, puzzle, or perplex completely, as in The last question on the test really stumped me. When you are stumped in this way, you are usually at a loss—you don’t know the right answer and you might not even have a guess. Someone who is experiencing this puzzlement can be described as stumped. A question or problem that stumps can be called a stumper. Example: The woodcutters chopped down all of the trees, leaving nothing but a field of stumps.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stumper
  noun
• stumpless
  adjective
• stumplike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stumps
  plural

Participles

• stumping
  present
• stumped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stump
  simple
• stumps
  simple
• have stumped
  perfect
• has stumped
  perfect
• am stumping
  progressive
• are stumping
  progressive
• is stumping
  progressive
• have been stumping
  perfect progressive
• has been stumping
  perfect progressive

Past

• stumped
  simple
• had stumped
  perfect
• was stumping
  progressive
• were stumping
  progressive
• had been stumping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stump
  simple
• will have stumped
  perfect
• will be stumping
  progressive
• will have been stumping
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of stump

1200–50; (noun) Middle English stompe, cognate with or < Middle Low German stump ( e ), Middle Dutch stomp (compare German Stumpf ); (v.) Middle English stumpen to stumble (as over a stump), derivative of the noun

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Explanation

There are three ways to stump: you can ask someone a question they can't answer, you can travel making political speeches, or you can stomp. Stump can mean many things as a verb. The most common use is when someone — like a teacher — asks a question that no one can answer. That's a case of the teacher stumping the class. Also, politicians traveling through a district, making speeches are stumping, giving what are called stump speeches. Once in a while, to stump means the same thing as two similar words, stomp and stamp. If you're stumping, stomping, and stamping around, you're making a lot of noise with your feet.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stump stumps stumped stumping

The bandages soon got dirty from all the dust and debris, so he asked for socks to put over the dressing on the stump.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Hinojosa, who is bilingual, flexes her Spanglish easily on the stump, telling voters that the most important lesson she ever got came from her mother was the scolding, “No te dejes.”

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026

Bavuma had pushed and driven outside off stump to that point but, with a silly point now in place, he was dragged from his crease and tried to force through mid-wicket.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

On the stump, Lahn says the key issue of his campaign is to “protect and preserve the culture of Iowa.”

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

From behind the tree’s remaining stump, a red head peeked out, blue eyes huge and terrified.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Cox dropped two catches behind the stumps, Sonny Baker was expensive with the new ball and Banton squandered the platform to make a huge score at the top of the order.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

The supply chain bringing matsutake mushrooms from under the tree stumps of southwestern China to its fanciest hotels offers a window into the country’s logistical prowess.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Gay's average in his six Tests is below 25 and his frustration at his second-innings dismissal against Pakistan came out with a swish of his bat towards the stumps.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Tongue bowled with high pace and targeted the stumps – all four of his wickets were bowled or lbw.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Beneath a mullioned window is a desk made of a door and two tree stumps.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Stair-climbing has stumped the robotics field for decades, as the activity requires continuous center-of-gravity shifts and visual information processing.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

In recent months, both OpenAI and Anthropic have turned complex mathematics into an unusual form of marketing for their smartest models, trumpeting solutions to problems that had stumped humans for decades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

ChatGPT-style AI is revolutionizing the world of high-level math by quickly solving famous, long-unsolved problems that stumped experts for decades.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

With Jamie Smith up they can't because of the risk of being stumped.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

I collected my books and stumped off muttering, “There’s an awful lot of this going around.”

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Becerra has spent the waning days of the campaign stumping for Democrats in competitive House races in the Central Valley and Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026

In a further sign of the times, this week, Harris endorsed El-Sayed and was stumping for him in Michigan.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026

The stumping that led to Sooryavanshi lying on his back was an anti-climactic end to what could have been riotous entertainment.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

“We call it stumping out—it means that your legs just give out and you collapse,” Rahlves said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026

“You can put those away,” he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, “those books. You won’t need them.”

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

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