stumble
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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 |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  stumble - an unsteady uneven gait gait - a person's manner of walking |
| 2. |  stumble - 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" | |
| Verb | 1. | 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 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" | |
| 4. |  stumble - make an error; "She slipped up and revealed the name" |
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.
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
verb1. To catch the foot against something and lose one's balance:
trip.
Idioms: lose one's footing, make a false step.
4. To proceed or perform in an unsteady, faltering manner:
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.
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
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]B. VI → tropezar, dar un traspié
to stumble against sth → tropezar contra algo
to stumble on; to go stumbling on (= keep walking) → avanzar dando traspiés
to stumble over sth → tropezar en algo
to stumble through a speech → pronunciar un discurso de cualquier manera, pronunciar un discurso atracándose
to stumble (up)on or across sth (fig) → tropezar con algo
to stumble against sth → tropezar contra algo
to stumble on; to go stumbling on (= keep walking) → avanzar dando traspiés
to stumble over sth → tropezar en algo
to stumble through a speech → pronunciar 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 (= walk unsteadily) → tituber
to stumble in → entrer en titubant
to stumble out → sortir en titubant
to stumble around → 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.
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 surstumble on
vt fus (= find unexpectedly) → tomber surstumbling block n → pierre f d'achoppementCollins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
stumble
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] vi → inciampare; (in speech) → incespicareto 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) verb1. 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 traspiéEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.