stumble across

Idioms

Also, stumble on. Find by chance, discover or meet with unexpectedly. For example, When we were hiking up the mountain we stumbled across a few abandoned shepherd's huts, or At the flea market Alfred stumbled on a quite valuable old lithograph. This idiom uses stumble in the sense of “accidentally trip.” [Mid-1500s]

Example Sentences

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stumble across

But on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, users were likelier to stumble across news while doing something else.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Remarkably few of these old-world venues remain in circulation — there are only a handful in America — although they are much revered in Europe, where it is much more common to stumble across one.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2025

Come May in Seattle, you can’t help but stumble across flowers bursting out of every yard.

From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024

In response to a comment, Robinson said he didn't stumble across the image.

From Salon ● May 15, 2024

We stumble across in the dark and as though he had been spat there every man lies glued behind a mound.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

stumble across

Example Sentences

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