[
US
/ˈstəmbəɫ/
]
[ UK /stˈʌmbəl/ ]
[ UK /stˈʌmbəl/ ]
VERB
-
encounter by chance
I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant -
miss a step and fall or nearly fall
She stumbled over the tree root -
walk unsteadily
The drunk man stumbled about -
make an error
She slipped up and revealed the name
NOUN
- an unsteady uneven gait
-
an unintentional but embarrassing blunder
he arranged his robes to avoid a trip-up later
he recited the whole poem without a single trip
confusion caused his unfortunate misstep
How To Use stumble In A Sentence
- He pulled himself up and stumbled to the bathroom, where he turned on the cold tap and collapsed at the bottom of the shower, barely awake.
- As Locke and Jean stumbled to their feet, the door on the wall opposite the window slammed open, and in stepped a broad-shouldered man with the slablike muscles of a stevedore or a smith. Archive 2008-07-01
- These companies will also sell you mason bee cocoons, if you don't want to wait for the neighborhood bees to stumble across your beehouse on their own. Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine
- She picked herself up and stumbled over to the wall, bracing herself against it.
- She misjudged them and stumbled, but Damin caught her before she fell. TREASON KEEP
- After a long flight, all you can do is stumble around its pathways and cactus gardens, marvelling at the sheer audacity of it all. Times, Sunday Times
- I stumbled over the fallen coon who had pivoted me, ducked a swat from a club, dived between a bull's legs, and was free. Some Adventures With the Police
- At other times it provokes genuine, childish delight, the wonderment of having stumbled across a secret.
- I couldn't see where I was going most of the time and people used to yell at me as I stumbled randomly, blindly down the street.
- I don’t know whether this is just a stumble, or the beginning of a real fall, for the bloody-handed, doughfaced Democratic leadership. House of Representatives rejects war funding bill