stumble

(redirected from stumbled)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.
Related to stumbled: stumbled across

stum·ble

 (stŭm′bəl)
v. stum·bled, stum·bling, stum·bles
v.intr.
1.
a. To miss one's step in walking or running; trip and almost fall.
b. To proceed unsteadily or falteringly; flounder. See Synonyms at blunder.
c. To act or speak falteringly or clumsily: an inexperienced actor stumbling through his lines.
2. To make a mistake or mistakes; blunder: The administration stumbled badly on foreign policy.
3. To come upon accidentally or unexpectedly: "The urge to wider voyages ... caused men to stumble upon New America" (Kenneth Cragg).
v.tr.
To cause to stumble.
n.
1. The act of stumbling.
2. A mistake or blunder.

[Middle English stumblen, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse stumra.]

stum′bler n.
stum′bling·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

stumble

(ˈstʌmbəl)
vb (intr)
1. to trip or fall while walking or running
2. to walk in an awkward, unsteady, or unsure way
3. to make mistakes or hesitate in speech or actions
4. (foll by: across or upon) to come (across) by accident
5. to commit a grave mistake or sin
n
6. a false step, trip, or blunder
7. the act of stumbling
[C14: related to Norwegian stumla, Danish dialect stumle; see stammer]
ˈstumbler n
ˈstumbling adj
ˈstumblingly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

stum•ble

(ˈstʌm bəl)

v. -bled, -bling,
n. v.i.
1. to strike the foot against something, as in walking or running, so as to stagger or fall.
2. to walk or go unsteadily.
3. to make a slip, mistake, or blunder, esp. a sinful one.
4. to proceed in a hesitating or blundering manner, as in action or speech (often fol. by along).
5. to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usu. fol. by on, upon, or across): They stumbled on a little village.
n.
6. the act of stumbling.
7. a moral lapse or error.
8. a slip or blunder.
[1275–1325; < Old Norse; akin to stammer]
stum′bler, n.
stum′bling•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

stumble


Past participle: stumbled
Gerund: stumbling

Imperative
stumble
stumble
Present
I stumble
you stumble
he/she/it stumbles
we stumble
you stumble
they stumble
Preterite
I stumbled
you stumbled
he/she/it stumbled
we stumbled
you stumbled
they stumbled
Present Continuous
I am stumbling
you are stumbling
he/she/it is stumbling
we are stumbling
you are stumbling
they are stumbling
Present Perfect
I have stumbled
you have stumbled
he/she/it has stumbled
we have stumbled
you have stumbled
they have stumbled
Past Continuous
I was stumbling
you were stumbling
he/she/it was stumbling
we were stumbling
you were stumbling
they were stumbling
Past Perfect
I had stumbled
you had stumbled
he/she/it had stumbled
we had stumbled
you had stumbled
they had stumbled
Future
I will stumble
you will stumble
he/she/it will stumble
we will stumble
you will stumble
they will stumble
Future Perfect
I will have stumbled
you will have stumbled
he/she/it will have stumbled
we will have stumbled
you will have stumbled
they will have stumbled
Future Continuous
I will be stumbling
you will be stumbling
he/she/it will be stumbling
we will be stumbling
you will be stumbling
they will be stumbling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been stumbling
you have been stumbling
he/she/it has been stumbling
we have been stumbling
you have been stumbling
they have been stumbling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been stumbling
you will have been stumbling
he/she/it will have been stumbling
we will have been stumbling
you will have been stumbling
they will have been stumbling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been stumbling
you had been stumbling
he/she/it had been stumbling
we had been stumbling
you had been stumbling
they had been stumbling
Conditional
I would stumble
you would stumble
he/she/it would stumble
we would stumble
you would stumble
they would stumble
Past Conditional
I would have stumbled
you would have stumbled
he/she/it would have stumbled
we would have stumbled
you would have stumbled
they would have stumbled
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.stumble - an unsteady uneven gaitstumble - an unsteady uneven gait    
gait - a person's manner of walking
2.stumble - an unintentional but embarrassing blunderstumble - 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"
blooper, blunder, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, pratfall, bloomer - an embarrassing mistake
Verb1.stumble - walk unsteadily; "The drunk man stumbled about"
walk - use one's feet to advance; advance by steps; "Walk, don't run!"; "We walked instead of driving"; "She walks with a slight limp"; "The patient cannot walk yet"; "Walk over to the cabinet"
2.stumble - miss a step and fall or nearly fallstumble - miss a step and fall or nearly fall; "She stumbled over the tree root"
move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right"
founder - stumble and nearly fall; "the horses foundered"
3.stumble - encounter by chance; "I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant"
come into, come by - obtain, especially accidentally
4.stumble - make an errorstumble - make an error; "She slipped up and revealed the name"
err, mistake, slip - to make a mistake or be incorrect
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

stumble

verb
1. trip, fall, slip, reel, stagger, falter, flounder, lurch, come a cropper (informal), lose your balance, blunder about The smoke was so thick that I stumbled on the first step.
2. totter, reel, stagger, blunder, falter, flounder, lurch, wobble, teeter, move clumsily I stumbled into the telephone box and dialled 999.
3. falter, hesitate, stammer, stutter, fluff (informal) His voiced wavered and he stumbled over his words.
stumble across or on or upon something or someone discover, find, come across, encounter, run across, chance upon, happen upon, light upon, blunder upon History relates that they stumbled on a magnificent waterfall.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

stumble

verb
1. To catch the foot against something and lose one's balance:
Idioms: lose one's footing, make a false step.
2. To walk unsteadily:
3. To move awkwardly or clumsily:
4. To proceed or perform in an unsteady, faltering manner:
5. To make an error or mistake:
phrasal verb
stumble on or upon
To find or meet by chance:
bump into, chance on (or upon), come across, come on (or upon), find, happen on (or upon), light on (or upon), run across, run into, tumble on.
Archaic: alight on (or upon).
Idiom: meet up with.
noun
A stupid, clumsy mistake:
Informal: blooper, boner.
Slang: bloomer, goof.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يَتَعَثَّريَتَعَثَّرُيَتَلَعْثَم، يُتَعَثَّر بالكَلاميَمْشي بدون ثَبات
zakopnoutklopýtatzadrhávat
snubletumle afstedlede efter ordene
tropezartropezónavanzar dando tropezones/traspiésbalbucir
kompastua
spotaknuti se
akadozva beszélbotorkál
hrasaskjögraverîa fótaskortur á tungunni
つまずく
걸려 넘어질 뻔하다
klupinėtikluptisukluptiužkliūti
aizķertiesiet klupšusklupt/aizķertiesstomīties
potkýnať sazaseknúť sa
spotakniti se
snubbla
สะดุด
tökezlemekyanlışlık yapmakdili sürçmeksendelemeksendeleyerek yürümek
vấp

stumble

[ˈstʌmbl]
A. Ntropezón m, traspié m
B. VItropezar, dar un traspié
to stumble against sthtropezar contra algo
to stumble on; to go stumbling on (= keep walking) → avanzar dando traspiés
to stumble over sthtropezar en algo
to stumble through a speechpronunciar un discurso de cualquier manera, pronunciar un discurso atracándose
to stumble (up)on or across sth (fig) → tropezar con algo
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

stumble

[ˈstʌmbəl] vi
(= trip) → trébucher
He stumbled and fell, exhausted → Il trébucha et tomba, épuisé.
(= walk unsteadily) → tituber
to stumble in → entrer en titubant
to stumble out → sortir en titubant
to stumble around → tituber
(= falter) to stumble over the words → buter sur les mots
His voice wavered and he stumbled over the words → Sa voix se brisait et il butait sur les mots.
stumble across
vt fus (= find unexpectedly) → tomber sur
stumble on
vt fus (= find unexpectedly) → tomber surstumbling block npierre f d'achoppement
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

stumble

nStolpern nt no pl, no indef art; (in speech etc) → Stocken nt no pl, no indef art
vi (lit, fig)stolpern; (in speech) → stocken; to stumble against somethinggegen etw stoßen; to stumble on something (lit)über etw (acc)stolpern; (fig)auf etw (acc)stoßen; he stumbled through a waltz/his speechstockend or holperig spielte er einen Walzer/hielt er seine Rede
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

stumble

[ˈstʌmbl] viinciampare; (in speech) → incespicare
to stumble against sth → inciampare contro qc
to stumble in/out → entrare/uscire barcollando
to stumble on or across sth (fig) (secret) → scoprire per caso (photo) → trovare per caso
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

stumble

(ˈstambl) verb
1. to strike the foot against something and lose one's balance, or nearly fall. He stumbled over the edge of the carpet.
2. to walk unsteadily. He stumbled along the track in the dark.
3. to make mistakes, or hesitate in speaking, reading aloud etc. He stumbles over his words when speaking in public.
ˈstumbling-block noun
a difficulty that prevents progress.
stumble across/on
to find by chance. I stumbled across this book today in a shop.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

stumble

يَتَعَثَّرُ zakopnout snuble stolpern παραπατώ tropezar kompastua trébucher spotaknuti se inciampare つまずく 걸려 넘어질 뻔하다 struikelen snuble potknąć się tropeçar спотыкаться snubbla สะดุด tökezlemek vấp 蹒跚
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

stumble

vi tropezar, dar un traspié
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
As he was crossing through the water he lost his footing, stumbled and fell, and not being able to rise on account of his load, groaned heavily.
Can it be possible that you escaped?" And the old man stumbled toward me and threw his arms about me.
On and on we stumbled beneath that hateful noonday sun.
I turned by an effort, stumbled over the curate, and stopped at the scullery door.
That is to say, not noticing the slipperiness of the threshold, I stumbled against an old woman who was filling milk- jugs from a pail, and sent the milk flying in every direction!
After a few hours the road began to be rough, and the walking grew so difficult that the Scarecrow often stumbled over the yellow bricks, which were here very uneven.
As best I could, I stumbled after him down a steep declivity beginning at the forest's edge.
Toward noon we stumbled upon a well-constructed road running in the general direction we had been pursuing.
In a dense wood I suddenly stumbled upon a thing which at first filled me with hope and later with the most utter despair and dejection.
Presently a Manyuema forged ahead of his companions; there was none to see from what direction death came, and so it came quickly, and a moment later those behind stumbled over the dead body of their comrade--the inevitable arrow piercing the still heart.
One man, trying in his terror to escape the awful sight, stumbled against the coffin so heavily as to knock away one of its frail supports.
That was all that Bill heard, for he had stumbled across the hall and was in his room, sitting on the bed and staring into the darkness with burning eyes.