stumblen.
/ˈstʌmb(ə)l/ 1. An act of stumbling.figurative.1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes sig. eiii This is a greate stomble at the thressholde of the dore: for it is plain by histories, that Lusitania, was not called Portyngale, almost by a M. yeres, after this supposed tyme.1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iv. xx. 203 A Prince, who in the race of his life met with many rubs, some stumbles, no dangerous fall.† b. An ineffectual attempt. Obsolete.† d. A taking offence. Obsolete.
a. A missing one's footing, a partial fall.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [noun] > misfortune or ill-luck > instance of misfortune or ill-luck
unsitheOE
evila1300
mischiefa1325
illa1340
adversity1340
infortunea1393
infortunity1477
cladec1480
misfortunec1485
fortune1490
trouble?1521
stumble1547
infelicity1575
disgrace1622
unfortunacya1662
disgracia1740
miscanter1781
reversal1846
avalanche1850
rough spin1919
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [noun] > manner of walking > stumbling > a stumble
spurnc1390
stumble1547
snappera1572
trip1681
stoiter1838
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ iii. xxxi. 110 I was told of a Spaniard who having got a fall by a stumble and broke his nose, rise up, and in a disdainfull manner said,..This is to walk upon earth.
1743 J. Wesley Jrnl. 20 Oct. (ed. 2) Many endeavour'd to throw me down, while we were going down-hill on a slippery path to the town... But I made no stumble at all, nor the least slip 'till I was intirely out of their hands.
1825 W. Scott Talisman ix, in Tales Crusaders IV. 178 The horse of the knight made such a perilous stumble, as threatened to add a practical moral to the tale.
1890 D. Davidson Mem. Long Life ix. 224 Douglas Graham's horse had stumbled in the soft bed of the nullah, and that stumble saved his rider's life.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > [noun] > failed attempt
stumblea1635
flash in the pan1705
false start1815
flat move1819
boss-shot1890
crash-and-burn1985
a1635 R. Corbet Nonsence in Poems (1807) 221 Or lyke to rhyming verse that runs in prose, Or lyke the stumbles of a tynder box.
c. A blunder, slip.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > [noun]
misnimming?c1225
errora1340
defaulta1387
balkc1430
fault1523
jeofail1546
errat1548
trip1548
naught1557
missa1568
missinga1568
slide1570
snappera1572
amiss1576
mistaking1579
misprize1590
mistake1600
berry-block1603
solecism1603
fallibility1608
stumblea1612
blota1657
slur1662
incorrectnessa1771
bumble1823
skew1869
(to make) a false step1875
slip-up1909
ricket1958
bad1981
a1612 J. Harington Brief View Church of Eng. in Nugæ Antiquæ (1804) II. 49 Maister Vaghan examined him..and found him but shallow, and not very ready in the Roman tongue, his frend having been fayn to help him up, in two or three fowle stumbles, both of language and matter.
a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) 379 A prosecution of the former Paragraph, with a stumble of Baronius.
1687 E. Settle Refl. Dryden's Plays 68 By the damnable stumbles Mr. Notes makes in them, he is quite different from Aretine in his Preface.
1736 Ld. Hervey Mem. (1848) I. 408 Sir Robert, finding the stumble his brother had made [in making this suggestion]..joined in the laugh against him.
1901 Scotsman 1 Mar. 7/4 The significant stumble made by the right hon. gentleman in his reply.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > indignation or resentment > [noun] > fit of
wratha1200
pique1551
snuff1592
stumble1675
huff1757
cream puff1985
1675 J. Bunyan Light in Darkness 35 This their stumble might arise either; 1. From the cruelty of Herod: Or, 2. From their own not observing and keeping in mind the Alarum that God gave them at his Birth.
e. A moral lapse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > erring > [noun] > instance
falla1225
scapec1440
lapse1582
slip1601
stumble1702
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [noun] > moral fall or lapse
falla1225
scapec1440
surreption1536
prolapsion1581
lapse1582
slip1601
stumble1702
1702 Eng. Theophrastus 186 One stumble is oftentimes enough to deface the character of an honourable life.
1876 H. K. Wood Highw. Salvation v. 57 His stumbles and his transgressions are his sorrow.
f. A stumbling or coming by accident upon something.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > [noun] > accidentally
stumble1865
1865 J. G. Holland Plain Talks iv. 122 There are exceptions to this rule in the lucky Stumbles that are made upon extraordinary deposits of the precious stones and metals.
2. In generalized sense: The action of stumbling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [noun] > manner of walking > stumbling
stumblinga1400
snappering1591
tripping1594
stumble1641
cespitation1654
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [noun] > action of erring
mistakinga1400
forvayingc1430
faultingc1450
erring1483
tripping1594
stumble1641
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 4 How much lesse can we believe that God would leave his..Church..to the perpetuall stumble of conjecture and disturbance.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables Life ix. 10 The Clown, after a little Stumble within himself,..says..If it be the Custome of the Family, 'tis not for me to be against it.
1880 R. D. Blackmore Mary Anerley I. x. 135 Buoys, nets, kegs,..lay about..here and there and everywhere, upon this half-acre of slip and stumble, at the top of the boat-channel down to the sea.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > erring > errant conduct > [noun] > occasion or cause of
slanderc1340
stumbling-block1526
stumble1651
society > morality > moral evil > moral or spiritual degeneration > degrading or impairing morally > [noun] > cause of moral lapse or fall
slanderc1340
offendinga1425
stumbling-block1526
stumble1651
1651 H. More Second Lash of Alazanomastix in Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1656) M 2 b And truly..that Book which hath proved so mischievous a scandal, I intended onely for a stumble to wake you.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
stumblev.
/ˈstʌmb(ə)l/ 1.
a. intransitive. To miss one's footing, or trip over an obstacle, in walking or running, so as to fall or be in danger of falling.
ΘΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > erring > [verb (intransitive)]
misfareeOE
failc1290
stumblec1325
errc1374
crookc1380
miscarryc1390
swervea1400
delire?a1475
pervertc1475
misguide1480
prevaricate1582
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > stumble
spurnc1000
stumpc1250
misstepc1300
stummer13..
stumblec1325
snappera1352
thrumble1362
snatera1400
tripc1440
stut1574
stomber1588
flounder1592
strumble1681
plunther1841
c1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 143 Ke il ne ceste ne ne chece [glossed stumble ne falle] En la bowe ne messece.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12435 He [the giant] stombled, & gaf a cry.
1338 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 55 A seruitour þer was, þat serued at þe mete, He stombled at a chance, & felle on his kne.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xix. 8 Proude horsis that will stumbill and gere vs breke oure neke.
1388 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) John xi. 10 If he wandre in the niȝt, he stomblith [L. offendit].
c1450 Brut ii. 378 And þanne þeȝe Frenschmen come prikkyng doun as þei wolde haue ouyr-rydyn alle oure meyne; but God and our archers made hem sone to stomble.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxiii The cordes is a thyng that woll make a horse to stumble & oft to fall.
1659 in F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) II. 147 The horse stumblinge threw them both.
1746 P. Francis tr. Horace in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles i. x. 63 Our Fortunes and our Shoes are near allied; We're pinch'd in strait, and stumble in the wide.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 12 But, stumbling in the rugged dell, The gallant horse exhausted fell.
1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. xix. 321 A sort of broken gallop, as of horses forced forward, yet faltering and stumbling at every step, was now heard.
1900 W. How Lighter Moments 37 His horse stumbled in a lane and fell with him.
b. with const. at, over.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk upon or tread [verb (transitive)] > stumble over something
stumblea1450
a1450 Le Morte Arth. 115 His hors stomelyd at a stone.
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xliii. 123 Sche stombeled at a blok whech was hid with straw and þus fel sodeynly.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Offensaculum, that which is layd in a mans waye, whereat he stumbleth.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet v. iii. 122 How oft to night haue these my aged feete Stumbled at graues. View more context for this quotation
a1707 M. Prior Duke of Ormond's Pict. 13 His steed..stumbles o'er the Heap.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. viii. 229 Give me the torch..and take care you don't stumble over any thing, that lies in your way.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. ii. 51 Stumbling at every obstacle which the devotion of his guide, Richard, had left in the path, he [etc.].
1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek iii. 58 As sure as one walks in the dark, one stumbles over a pig.
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 52 Having stumbled over a stone.
1894 L. Alma-Tadema Wings of Icarus 158 I turned from the window and stumbled over something; I lighted a candle.
c. To fall in consequence of a stumble.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > fall down or from erect position > specifically of person or animal > stumble and fall
founderc1405
stumblec1503
c1503 Beuys of Southhamptowne (Pynson) 2454 There was a wel,..And Beuys stumbled ryght therin.
1907 Connoisseur Apr. 275/2 Here are men fighting.., there a horse is stumbling to his knees.
d. To knock or jostle against (a person or thing) involuntarily.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > impact > impinge upon [verb (transitive)] > accidentally
stumblec1440
to run into ——1829
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 481/1 Stummelyn, or hurtelyn a-ȝen a stole, or clogge, or oþer lyke, impingo.
a1822 P. B. Shelley tr. J. W. von Goethe Scenes from Faust in Posthumous Poems (1824) 400 Every step One stumbles 'gainst some crag.
1835 Politeness & Gd.-breeding 28 This boy or girl..who never..tries to vex your feelings, but if they happen so much as to stumble against you, or hurt you in any way, say immediately, ‘I am sorry for it.’
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. xxii. 380 ‘I am out,’ quoth Hereward, as the man almost stumbled against him; ‘and this is in.’
e. Of an inanimate thing: To strike unexpectedly on.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > shipwreck > suffer shipwreck [verb (intransitive)] > strike a rock
stumble1702
1702 Secret Mercury 23– 30 Sept. 2/1 I press'd her to discover her Lodgings, but in vain; for the Boat just stumbled on the Stones and parted us.
a1822 P. B. Shelley tr. P. Calderon Scenes from Magico Prodigioso in Posthumous Poems (1824) 378 It [sc. that sad ship] strikes—..It stumbles on a jagged rock.
f. Phrase, to stumble at (on) the threshold. Chiefly figurative, to fail, take offence, meet with an ominous check at the beginning of an enterprise.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail or be unsuccessful [verb (intransitive)] > start unsuccessfully
to stumble at (on) the threshold1377
to get (start, etc.) off on the wrong foot1844
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. v. 357 He stumbled [So several MSS.; but seethrumble v.1] on the thresshewolde.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. May 230 Tho went the pensife Damme out of dore And chaunst to stomble at the threshold flore.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iv. viii. 11.
1699 T. Baker Refl. Learning xvi. 200 This is no very great mistake, but it is always ominous to stumble at the threshold.
1725 N. Bailey tr. Erasmus All Familiar Colloquies 209 I lately began to read Seneca's Epistles, and stumbled, as they say, at the very Threshold.
1877 J. A. Froude Short Stud. (1883) IV. i. iv. 49 He stumbled on the threshold, and had almost fallen, but recovered himself.
2. figurative in various uses.† e. Proverb.
a. To trip morally.
ΘΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > act wrongly or immorally [verb (intransitive)] > stumble
stumble1303
stummer1562
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 6521 Ful many on stumble vp and down Of þe greces of syre glotown.
a1340 R. Rolle Psalter xxv. 1 I shal not be seke [L. non infirmabor] þat is, I shal noght stumbul.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 2928 Soche stirrynges ger stumble, þat stidfast wold be.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) i. ii. 3 Iul. Would'st thou then counsaile me to fall in loue? Luc. I Madam, so you stumble not vnheedfully. View more context for this quotation
a1692 T. Shadwell Volunteers (1693) i. i. 7 That Mother in Law of thine, is..I believe given to stumble much; there is an odd fellow keeps her Company.
1853 W. M. Thackeray Eng. Humourists i. 30 They sinned and stumbled..with debt, with drink.
b. To make a slip in speech or action; to blunder through inadvertence or unpreparedness.
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > be mistaken, err [verb (intransitive)] > through inadvertance
stumble1530
overslipc1576
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > incorrectness of language > err linguistically [verb (intransitive)]
slipc1340
stumble1530
solecize1627
barbarize1644
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 51 Yf yt happe..that any..fayle or stomble, or be dystracte from saynge or hering of eny worde, or verse, or psalme [etc.].
1607 S. Rowlands Diogines Lanthorne 44 T'is better stumble with thy feet Then stumble with thy tongue.
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. ⁋6 But yet as men they [the LXX] stumbled and fell, one while through ouersight, another while through ignorance.
c. To come on or upon by chance and unexpectedly; to come in or into (a place) by chance.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come into [verb (transitive)] > by chance
stumble1555
to fall into ——1698
stagger1803
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > meeting or encounter > meet or encounter [verb (transitive)] > unexpectedly or by chance
stumble1555
to come upon ——1622
to come across ——1738
to come on ——1801
to run upon ——1849
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > finding or discovery > find or discover [verb (transitive)] > find or discover by chance
find1340
to fall with ——?c1475
to fall on ——1533
stumble1555
to come on ——1584
to come upon ——1622
fortune1662
to blunder upon1710
to come across ——1738
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 309v He that speaketh much shal sumtimes stumble on the truth.
c1574–5 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 158 It was mie illuck to stumble on sutch cumpany to Walden warde, that I could not possibely cumpas mie purpose, unles [etc.].
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 12v Some Archeplayer or other that hath read a little or stumbled by chance vpon Plautus Comedies.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 95 What man art thou..Doest stumble on my counsaile? View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. i. 33 It was my lucke to stumble in here againe.
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin ii. 164 Thus trudg'd he nimble: Whom should he stumble next on, But that tough stick of Wood, Boirude the Sexton?
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 36 You shall sometimes stumble upon a Lieutenant..of a very different Make.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 226 He..had a world of talk With one he stumbled on, and lost his walk.
1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. xiii. 417 (note) Some time after making this experiment I stumbled upon a passage in Redi.
1838 W. C. Harris Narr. Exped. S. Afr. 17 In the course of our perambulations..we stumbled upon a waggon discharging a cargo of oranges.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xix. 196 They were not the fittest companions she could have stumbled on.
1874 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 1st Ser. 13 The founders..appear to have stumbled upon their discovery by a kind of accident.
1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) viii. 211 The curiously accidental and fortuitous way in which real excellence sometimes stumbles into recognition.
1902 S. S. Sprigge Industr. Chevalier vii. 165 Now and again they stumble upon prizes which they cannot appreciate.
d. To take offence; to find a stumbling-block or obstacle to belief. Chiefly with const. at.
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > disbelief, incredulity > disbelieve [verb (intransitive)] > find obstacles to belief
stumble1526
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Diiiv Here parauenture the scrupulouse persone wyll stomble & say [etc.].
1593 T. Bilson Perpetual Govt. Christes Church 410 I see no cause for others to stumble at it.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 46 In case the Prelacy of England should stumble at the Supremacy of Rome.
1687 J. Renwick Let. 13 Aug. in A. Shields Life J. Renwick (1724) 247 Stumble not, because Religion is mocked at.
1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity I. i. 21 The circumstance at which mankind..stumbled the most.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 92 Those who rebel against the law of God, stumble, in divers manners, at the ways of God. They stumble at God Himself,..they stumble at His attributes; they stumble at His Providence, at His acts [etc.].
1882 E. R. Pitman Mission Life in Greece 326 These two peoples stumble at one ‘stumbling stone’, even Christ.
Π
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 736/2 Thou lepest over a bloke and stomblest at a strawe.
1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies sig. D iv They were of so blynd iudgemente, that they stombled at a strawe, & leped ouer a blocke.
1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata To Rdr. 17 To skip over blocks, and stumble at straws.
3.
a. To walk unsteadily and with frequent stumbles.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > unsteadily
wiggle?c1225
walter1399
falterc1400
stammerc1400
dotterc1475
stavera1500
stumblea1500
reel1529
scamblec1571
halper1596
totter1602
folder1607
wamble1611
to make a Virginia fence1671
wandle1686
fribble1709
rock1718
stoit1719
stoiter1724
swagger1724
doddle1761
stotter1781
toit1786
doiter1793
stot1801
dodder1819
twaddle1823
teeter1844
shoggle1884
welter1884
warple1887
whemmel1895
a1500 (?a1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 660 Stomlyng thurrow frythe and fen, Tyll he com to a depe glen [MS reads thorne].
1577 J. Grange Golden Aphroditis sig. Nijv But who so bolde as blinde Bayarde? for he mistrusting nought, comes stumbling forth at will.
1627 T. May tr. Lucan Pharsalia (new ed.) iii. F 1 He seeing his Sonne fall with trembling step Stumbling along came to that side the ship.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 201 But..blind be blinded more, That they may stumble on, and deeper fall. View more context for this quotation
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xv. 408 By this unreasonable custom they [sc. the Chinese women] do in a manner lose the use of their Feet, and instead of going they only stumble about their Houses.
1831 W. Scott Castle Dangerous iii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. IV. 94 She kept talking all the while as she stumbled onward.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey I. 292 We stumbled along behind him by the light of the stars, over very rough places.
1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz 59 What a load he stumbles under through his glad sad seventy years.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iv. xx. 163 And with a dreadful oath he stumbled off, ploughed down the sand,..and disappeared.
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail iv. 29 He dressed, shivering, and stumbled down stairs to a round stove.
b. transferred. Of an inanimate thing: To move by jolts or falls. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > unsteady movement > move unsteadily [verb (intransitive)] > lurch
wrickc1305
swagger1724
ricket1827
lurch1851
stumble1873
to play stoit1881
to play stoiter1890
1873 A. I. Thackeray Old Kensington (ed. 2) ii. 9 Staring..at the luggage as it comes bumping and stumbling off the big ship.
c. figurative. To proceed, speak, or act in a blundering or hesitating manner.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > do something unskilfully [verb (intransitive)] > blunder, stumble, or flounder
stumblec1394
bumble1533
blunder1641
flounder1684
c1394 P. Pl. Crede 591 Now mot a frere studyen & stumblen in tales.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall Ded. sig. A2 As farre as Will Solnes stuttring pronunciation may stumble ouer at a breath.
1594 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 iii. ii. 320 My toong should stumble in mine earnest words.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie To Perusers sig. B4v Yet both of them [sc. Juvenal and Persius] goe a good seemely pace, not stumbling, shuffling.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. xiii. 287 Through a succession of failures, they stumbled into perfection.
1868 Ld. Tennyson Lucretius 123 I have forgotten what I meant: my mind Stumbles, and all my faculties are lamed.
1884 Harper's Mag. Nov. 912/2 I'll stumble through the driest scientific treatise you have.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. xv. 129 Seneca blushed, and his smooth tongue stumbled, as he attempted to express his gratification.
4. transitive (causatively).† c. To shake (a resolve, an opinion). Obsolete.† d. To act as an obstacle to, to hinder, prevent.
a. To trip up, bring to the ground, overthrow. literal and figurative ? Obsolete.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk upon or tread [verb (transitive)] > stumble over something > cause to stumble
stumblec1330
supplantc1350
tripc1425
to give a person the foot1767
chip1788
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > cause to stumble and fall
stumblec1330
supplantc1350
tripc1425
to give a person the foot1767
leg1835
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13050 Stedes slayn, stumbled & failled.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Eccles. x. 12 The lippis of the vnwise shuln stumblen hym doun [L. præcipitabunt eum].
?1592 Trag. Solyman & Perseda iv. i. 222 I, now occasion serues to stumble him That thrust his sickle in my haruest corne.
1652 W. Brough Sacred Princ. (ed. 2) 449 Stumble not an Vpright foot, with a visible Block of offence.
b. To puzzle; to give pause or offence to; to embarrass, nonplus.
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)] > nonplus
stagger1556
gravel1566
set1577
trump1586
bumbaze1587
puzzlec1595
ground1597
stunt1603
nonplus1605
pose1605
stumble1605
buzzard1624
quandary1681
bamboozle1712
hobble1762
stump1807
have1816
floor1830
flummox1837
stick1851
get1868
to stick up1897
buffalo1903
1605 L. Hutten Answere 5 But the Treatiser thought it more for his aduantage,..to set down his argument confusedly, the more to stumble the vnskilfull Reader.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy ii. iv. i. i. 433 A common ague somtimes stumbles them all [sc. Physitians], they cannot so much as ease.
1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata 22 I think good for the clearing of all what hath been already said (least some may be stumbled thereat) to deliver my minde as touching their influence thus.
1668 S. Simmons in J. Milton Paradise Lost (new ed.) To Rdr. sig. A2 A reason of that which stumbled many others, why the Poem Rimes not.
1682 J. Bunyan Holy War 381 To question Election is..to stumble the faith of the Town of Mansoul. View more context for this quotation
a1700 A. Shields Life J. Renwick (1724) 123 By these and the like Reproaches, many were stumbled at his Testimony.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 533 In days like these..when Virtue is so scarce, That to suppose a scene where she presides..stumbles all belief.
1893 W. G. Collingwood Life & Work J. Ruskin I. 172 The proud possessor of a cut-and-dry creed will be stumbled by this new milestone in Mr. Ruskin's intellectual pilgrimage.
1901 Church Quarterly July 425 He [a Chinese man] is much stumbled that..the claims of a man's wife take precedence of those of his elder brother.
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > doubt [verb (transitive)] > cause doubt
branglea1600
forgive1600
stumble1607
uncertain1614
uncredit1615
disconceita1639
scruple1638
startle1643
stagger1646
unfix1650
inscruple1663
unhinge1719
unconvince1815
unsettle1833
to keep (a person) guessing1896
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice iii. 34 There is nothing dooth so much stumble mens mindes, and make them affraide of keeping hunting horses, as the verie remembrance and charge of keeping them.
1646 in Hamilton Papers (1880) 134 The small appearance he findes that his message will be satisfactory to you there hath much stumbled his resolution of sending it to London.
1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 192 Nor was it wisdome for Kings that sate loose in their Thrones, to stumble the good Opinions of so considerable [a] party towards them.
ΘΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hinder [verb (transitive)] > be an obstacle to
stumble1606
1606 W. Warner Continuance Albions Eng. xvi. ciii. 406 What stumbleth our Banes-bidding, pra? cause Peg forsooth will be A Gentlewoman.
Derivatives
ˈstumbled adj.
ΘΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > [adjective] > at a loss
shentc1440
stumbled1548
nonplussed1606
unresponsive1668
pitch-kettled1788
posed1820
bepuzzled1826
buffaloed-
1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Titubatus, tripped, stumbled.
1848 S. Wilberforce in A. R. Ashwell Life S. Wilberforce (1880) I. xi. 499 Though to anonymous public slanderers I would give no answer, yet to a stumbled Christian friend I ought even to humble myself to reply to a surmise so degrading to my character even as this.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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