Adjacent Words

Stumble definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STUMBLE, v.i. [This word is probably from a root that signifies to stop or to strike, and may be allied to stammer.]
1. To trip in walking or moving in any way upon the legs; to strike the foot so as to fall, or to endanger a fall; applied to any animal. A man may stumble, as well as a horse.
The way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble. Proverbs 4.
2. To err; to slide into a crime or an error.
He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 1 John 2.
3. To strike upon without design; to fall on; to light on by chance. Men often stumble upon valuable discoveries.
Ovid stumbled by some inadvertence upon Livia in a bath.
STUMBLE, v.t.
1. To obstruct in progress; to cause to trip or stop.
2. To confound; to puzzle; to put to a nonplus; to perplex.
One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis.
STUMBLE, n.
1. A trip in walking or running.
2. A blunder; a failure.
One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an unsteady uneven gait [syn: lurch, stumble, stagger]
2: an unintentional but embarrassing blunder; "he recited the whole poem without a single trip"; "he arranged his robes to avoid a trip-up later"; "confusion caused his unfortunate misstep" [syn: trip, trip-up, stumble, misstep] v
1: walk unsteadily; "The drunk man stumbled about" [syn: stumble, falter, bumble]
2: miss a step and fall or nearly fall; "She stumbled over the tree root" [syn: stumble, trip]
3: encounter by chance; "I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant" [syn: stumble, hit]
4: make an error; "She slipped up and revealed the name" [syn: stumble, slip up, trip up]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (stumbled; stumbling) Etymology: Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect stumle to stumble Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. a. to fall into sin or waywardness b. to make an error ; blunder c. to come to an obstacle to belief 2. to trip in walking or running 3. a. to walk unsteadily or clumsily b. to speak or act in a hesitant or faltering manner 4. a. to come unexpectedly or by chance <stumble onto the truth> b. to fall or move carelessly transitive verb 1. to cause to stumble ; trip 2. bewilder, confound • stumbler noun • stumblingly adverb II. noun Date: 1547 an act or instance of stumbling

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. lurch forward or have a partial fall from catching or striking or misplacing one's foot. 2 intr. (often foll. by along) walk with repeated stumbles. 3 intr. make a mistake or repeated mistakes in speaking etc. 4 intr. (foll. by on, upon, across) find or encounter by chance (stumbled on a disused well). --n. an act of stumbling. Phrases and idioms: stumbling-block an obstacle or circumstance causing difficulty or hesitation. Derivatives: stumbler n. stumblingly adv. Etymology: ME stumble (with euphonic b) corresp. to Norw. stumla: rel. to STAMMER

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stumble Stum"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stumbled; p. pr. & vb. n. Stumbling.] [OE. stumblen, stomblen; freq. of a word akin to E. stammer. See Stammer.] 1. To trip in walking or in moving in any way with the legs; to strike the foot so as to fall, or to endanger a fall; to stagger because of a false step. There stumble steeds strong and down go all. --Chaucer. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know at what they stumble. --Prov. iv. 19. 2. To walk in an unsteady or clumsy manner. He stumbled up the dark avenue. --Sir W. Scott. 3. To fall into a crime or an error; to err. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion og stumbling in him. --1 John ii. 10. 4. To strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; -- with on, upon, or against. Ovid stumbled, by some inadvertency, upon Livia in a bath. --Dryden. Forth as she waddled in the brake, A gray goose stumbled on a snake. --C. Smart.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stumble Stum"ble, v. t. 1. To cause to stumble or trip. 2. Fig.: To mislead; to confound; to perplex; to cause to err or to fall. False and dazzling fires to stumble men. --Milton. One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis. --Locke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stumble Stum"ble, n. 1. A trip in walking or running. 2. A blunder; a failure; a fall from rectitude. One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life. --L'Estrange.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stumbles, stumbling, stumbled) 1. If you stumble, you put your foot down awkwardly while you are walking or running and nearly fall over. He stumbled and almost fell... I stumbled into the telephone box and dialed 999. VERB: V, V prep/adv • Stumble is also a noun. I make it into the darkness with only one stumble. N-COUNT: usu sing 2. If you stumble while you are reading aloud or speaking, you make a mistake, and have to pause before saying the words properly. ...his voice wavered and he stumbled over the words at one point. VERB: V over n, also V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Obstruct, trip, cause to stumble. 2. Perplex, confound, puzzle, nonplus, confuse, embarrass, pose. II. v. n. 1. Trip, miss one's footing, make a false step. 2. Err, do wrong. III. n. 1. Trip, false step. 2. Error, blunder, failure.

Moby Thesaurus

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