stumped

[stuhmpt]

adjective

1. completely at a loss; perplexed or nonplussed.

   The stumped officer could only stare at the strange object, trying to figure out what it might be.

2. reduced to a stump; truncated; lopped.

   Bowser was a small dog with a stumped tail.

   These hills are in fact the stumped remains of mountains millions of years old.

3. Chiefly Southern U.S.,  stubbed, as one’s toe.

   At the talk, someone in the audience joked, "A stumped toe is all I need as proof that matter is real!"

4. cleared of stumps.

   It was looking more and more impossible to get the recently cleared and stumped field ready for planting by April 26.

5. (of a crayon drawing, pencil rendering, etc.) toned or modified by means of a stump, a blunt-tipped tool made of tightly rolled paper, leather, etc..

   A stumped drawing by Willem de Kooning, almost rubbed out, inspired our interest in the process of reproduction.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of stump.

Other Word Forms

• unstumped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stumped¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; 1840–45 stumped for def. 3; stump ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; stump ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

In contrast to Hoover, who had rarely left FBI headquarters and publicly avoided politics, Gray openly stumped for Nixon in the 1972 campaign.

From Salon

Amateur cricketers have been stumped after the sport was permanently banned at a village pitch where it had been played for more than 200 years.

From BBC

Bethell cut to point and Root was stumped by a distance, the two wickets falling for the addition of only four runs.

From BBC

And firefighters — at least at the moment — seem stumped.

From Los Angeles Times

Their partnership was broken when Stokes retired hurt on 66 with cramp in the evening session and Root was struggling with a similar issue when he was finally stumped off Ravindra Jadeja shortly after.

From BBC