Definitions for stumble
ˈstʌm bəlstum·ble

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. lurch, stumble, staggernoun

   an unsteady uneven gait

2. trip, trip-up, stumble, misstepverb

   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"

3. stumble, falter, bumbleverb

   walk unsteadily

   "The drunk man stumbled about"

4. stumble, tripverb

   miss a step and fall or nearly fall

   "She stumbled over the tree root"

5. stumble, hitverb

   encounter by chance

   "I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant"

6. stumble, slip up, trip upverb

   make an error

   "She slipped up and revealed the name"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. stumblenoun

   a fall, trip or substantial misstep

2. stumblenoun

   an error or blunder

3. stumbleverb

   to trip or fall

   He stumbled over a rock.

4. stumbleverb

   to make a mistake or have trouble

   I always stumble over verbs in Spanish.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Stumblenoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. A trip in walking.2. A blunder; a failure.

   One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honourable life. Roger L'Estrange.

2. To Stumbleverb

   1. To obstruct in progress; to make to trip or stop.2. To make to boggle; to offend.

   Such terms amus’d them all,
   And stumbled many. John Milton, Paradise Lost.

   One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis. John Locke.

3. To STUMBLEverb

   Etymology: This word Franciscus Junius derives from stump, and says the original meaning is to strike or trip against astump. I rather think it comes from tumble.

   1. To trip in walking.

   When she will take the rein, I let her run;
   But she’ll not stumble. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.

   A headstall being restrained to keep him from stumbling, hath been often burst. William Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew.

   As we pac’d along
   Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
   Methought that Glo’ster stumbled; and, in falling,
   Struck me, that sought to stay him, overboard. William Shakespeare.

   The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. Prov. iv. 19.

   Cover’d o’er with blood,
   Which from the patriot’s breast in torrents flow’d,
   He faints: his steed no longer hears the rein;
   But stumbles o’er the heap his hand had slain. Matthew Prior.

   2. To slip; to err; to slide into crimes or blunders.

   He that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 1 Jo. ii. 10.

   This my day of grace
   They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
   But hard be harden’d, blind be blinded more,
   That they may stumble on, and deeper fall. John Milton.

   3. To strike against by chance; to light on by chance.

   This extreme dealing had driven her to put herself with a great lady of that country, by which occasion she had stumbled upon such mischances as were little for the honour of her or her family. Philip Sidney.

   What man art thou, that, thus bescreen’d in night,
   So stumblest on my counsel. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

   A mouse, bred in a chest, dropped out over the side, and stumbled upon a delicious morsel. Roger L'Estrange.

   Ovid stumbled, by some inadvertency, upon Livia in a bath. Dryden.

   Many of the greatest inventions have been accidentally stumbled upon by men busy and inquisitive. John Ray.

   Write down p and b, and make signs to him to endeavour to pronounce them, and guide him by shewing him the motion of your own lips; by which he will, with a little endeavour, stumble upon one of them. William Holder, Elements of Speech.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Stumble

   Stumble is 2003 Indian English-language film written and directed by Prakash Belawadi in his debut. It stars Anant Nag and Suhasini Maniratnam in the lead roles. Mukhyamantri Chandru, Ashok Mandanna and Priya Ganapathy feature in supporting roles. Set in Bangalore, the film explores the impact of corruption in the information technology world, the stock market and mutual funds scams and dot-com bubble on ordinary people. Praveen D. Rao scored music for the film while Clay Kelton served as the cinematographer. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics upon theatrical release. At the 50th National Film Awards, the film was awarded the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Stumbleverb

   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

2. Stumbleverb

   to walk in an unsteady or clumsy manner

3. Stumbleverb

   to fall into a crime or an error; to err

4. Stumbleverb

   to strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; -- with on, upon, or against

5. Stumbleverb

   to cause to stumble or trip

6. Stumbleverb

   fig.: To mislead; to confound; to perplex; to cause to err or to fall

7. Stumblenoun

   a trip in walking or running

8. Stumblenoun

   a blunder; a failure; a fall from rectitude

9. Etymology: [OE. stumblen, stomblen; freq. of a word akin to E. stammer. See Stammer.]

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Stumble

   Stumble is Prakash Belawadi's debut film. It won the Indian National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English in 2003. It depicts the new economy, the dot-com bust, stock market scams, mutual funds, and voluntary retirement. The production team intended Stumble to be a film for the middle-class Ananth Nag and Suhasini are in the lead rôles, alongside Priya Ganapati and Allen Mandonca. Belawadi found his cast through the theatre world of Bangalore, and was wholly filmed there. Jesu Domnic and Shyam Nanjundaiah were Editors for this movie. One of the editors Shyam Nanjundaiah also played a small part in the film, appearing alongside Ananth Nag for a brief scene. The movie was featured at the international technical festival, Pragyan at NIT Trichy in January 2006. It was also screened at the Mumbai National Film Festival.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Stumble

   stum′bl, v.i. to strike the feet against something, to trip in walking: to light on by chance (with upon): to slide into crime or error.—v.t. to cause to trip or stop: to puzzle.—n. a trip in walking or running: a blunder: a failure.—ns. Stum′bler, one who stumbles; Stum′bling-block, -stone, a block or stone over which one would be likely to stumble: a cause of error.—adv. Stum′blingly.—adj. Stum′bly, apt to stumble. [Skeat explains the b as excrescent, the M. E. stomblen, stomelen, stumlen, also stomeren being from Ice. stumra, to stumble. It is thus a doublet of stammer.]

Matched Categories

1. • Come By
   • Err
   • Gait
   • Move

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'stumble' in Verbs Frequency: #1045

Anagrams for stumble »

1. tumbles

How to pronounce stumble?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say stumble in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of stumble in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of stumble in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of stumble in a Sentence

1. Winston Churchill, Quoted in: Irving Klotz, Bending perception, a book review, Nature, 1996, Volume 379, p 412:

   Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.

2. Unknown:

   Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.

3. Hannah Arendt:

   Jean Bertrand Aristide Haitian president elected by large majority, twice overthrown by U.S. supported forces. Take my hand. If you see me stumble, hold me up. If I feel you weaken, I will support you. Let us trust one another, keep faith with one another, and never falter. Let us keep the lamp of solidarity lit, and move forward.

4. English Proverb:

   A stumble may prevent a fall.

5. Thomas Merton:

   We stumble and fall constantly even when we are most enlightened. But when we are in true spiritual darkness, we do not even know that we have fallen.

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