Showing results for "stumped"

• past tense form of stump.
• past participle of stump.

stumped

American  

[stuhmpt] / stʌmpt /

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.

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

• unstumped
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of stumped

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

Appeared in the May 30, 2026, print edition as 'A Math Problem Stumped Everyone For 80 Years.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 30, 2026

Listen to the full interview with Cricket Scotland's Trudy Lindblade on the Stumped podcast which will be released on Thursday afternoon.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026

"Harmison is at the pavilion end, my heart is pumping," Langer told the BBC's Stumped podcast.

From BBC • Nov. 20, 2025

Stumped for Words: It is being stolen — that’s an absolutely valid, not at all “petty” complaint.

From Washington Post • Jan. 20, 2023

Stumped by the mystery of Mr. Flux and his time-freezing camera.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles