[
US
/ˈfəmbəɫ/
]
[ UK /fˈʌmbəl/ ]
[ UK /fˈʌmbəl/ ]
VERB
-
make one's way clumsily or blindly
He fumbled towards the door -
drop or juggle or fail to play cleanly a grounder
fumble a grounder -
feel about uncertainly or blindly
She groped for her glasses in the darkness of the bedroom -
make a mess of, destroy or ruin
the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
I botched the dinner and we had to eat out - handle clumsily
NOUN
- (sports) dropping the ball
How To Use fumble In A Sentence
- However, on first down our big fella fumbles the ball and it bounces right into the hands of one of the players on the other team.
- Sunday was no exception as Bell was in the thick of Walter's four bobbles and was credited with a forced fumble.
- But, at the same time, it is core to their appeal and not something they can fumble. Times, Sunday Times
- She stared hard at the blonde, and fumbled for words, but was speechless.
- The Super Bowl runner-up Pittsburgh Steelers were crushed by divisional rivals the Baltimore Ravens in their opening game with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger having a shaky start with three interceptions and two fumbles. Pressure already on teams off to surprisingly slow starts
- He fumbled with the lock on the door to his apartment, looking forward to a stiff shot of single-malt Scotch before fixing dinner.
- He twisted and groped one-handed behind the cantle of his saddle for his hunting-bow and quiver, found them and fumbled them loose.
- Green, one of the top backs in the league, fumbled the ball seven times in the first nine games last year.
- The baseball hitter fumbled his attempt to catch it.
- I fumbled for the light switch in the pitch dark.