stumble
/ˈstʌmb(ə)l
/verb [no object]
1Trip or momentarily lose one’s balance; almost fall: her foot caught in the rug and she stumbled...
- But when she began stumbling and losing her balance, she knew something was seriously wrong.
- That way, your bud doesn't have to deal with stumbling or losing his or her balance when the train comes to a bumpy stop.
- The body tripped and stumbled momentarily but carried on regardless.
Synonyms
trip, trip over, trip up, lose one's balance, lose/miss one's footing, founder, slip, pitch
1.1 [with adverbial of direction] Trip repeatedly as one walks: his legs still weak, he stumbled after them...
- Almost too tired to walk, but I stumbled into the living room and fell on the couch.
- Here we see, five people stumbling their way across the street.
- A short, elderly woman of unsurpassed hideosity came upon them - or rather, stumbled over them.
Synonyms
stagger, totter, teeter, dodder, lurch, lumber, blunder, reel, flounder, bumble, shamble, hobble, wobble, move clumsily;
Scottish & Northern Irish sprauchle
1.2Make a mistake or repeated mistakes in speaking: she stumbled over the words...
- He is just reading it now, and he stumbled over the opening story as well.
- I stumbled over my mumbled responses, trying to form questions I knew needed asking.
- He stumbled over his instructions, trying to keep his eyes stern and controlling.
Synonyms
stammer, stutter, hesitate, falter, speak haltingly, fumble for words;
flounder, blunder, muddle
informal fluff one's lines
1.3 (stumble across/on/upon) Find or encounter by chance: a policeman had stumbled across a gang of youths...
- The subjects for his entry for the Schweppes award were stumbled upon in an entirely chance encounter.
- I never thought something was amiss until today when I came across this forum and a chance stumbling on to some related websites.
- ‘The chances of us stumbling on one of the top guys are zero,’ he said.
Synonyms
come across, come upon, chance on, happen on, light on, hit on, come up with;
discover, encounter, find, unearth, uncover, locate, bring to light
informal dig up, put one's finger on
noun
1An act of stumbling: he broke a bone in his foot in a stumble down an Alpine pass...
- They depict a kind of fall from quotidian grace - evoking a realm where spills, stumbles and bumps thwart our schedules, routines and Palm Pilot agendas.
- But his occasional stumbles should not erase his efforts to uphold the bygone standards of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.
- Early stumbles or successes may turn out to be a mere blip in the long run.
1.1A stumbling walk: he parodied my groping stumble across the stage...
- But what's a little stumble when you can walk through a lush cloud forest, gawk at howler monkeys and wade in a lake on the floor of a volcanic crater?
- Angela quickly recovered from her stumble, and began to limp while walking ahead of him, hoping he wouldn't notice.
- He grinned down at her and walked by her giving her a shove making her stumble.
Derivatives
stumbler
- If Roma are the biggest sliders after the first quarter of the competition, Iberia has provided the rest of the major stumblers.
- There is also the row with consultants over their future role and contracts (medical indemnity insurance is the current stumbler).
- In addition, there is the added stumbler that allowing below-invoice selling will require primary legislation.
stumblingly
- They are also getting stumblingly obvious about it.
- She muttered nervously, stumblingly gaining her footing.
- Was France trapped in a cycle of monarchy, republic, and empire, or did it advance stumblingly towards stability, finally achieved by the Third Republic?
Origin
Middle English (as a verb): from Old Norse, from the Germanic base of stammer.