stumble
1 ENTRIES FOUND:
stumbles;
stumbled;
stumbling
stumbles;
stumbled;
stumbling
Britannica Dictionary definition of STUMBLE
[no object]
1
:
to hit your foot on something when you are walking or running so that you fall or almost fall
:
trip
-
I stumbled on the uneven pavement.
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The horse stumbled and almost fell.
2
always followed by an adverb or preposition
:
to walk in an awkward way
-
He stumbled drunkenly across the room.
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He stumbled over to the table.
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She usually stumbles out of bed [=gets out of bed] around 7:00 am.
3
a
:
to speak or act in an awkward way
-
I heard him stumble over the unfamiliar words.
-
She stumbled through an apology.
b
:
to begin to have problems after a time of success
-
The economy has stumbled in recent months.
4
always followed by an adverb or preposition
:
to find or learn about something unexpectedly
-
I stumbled across/on/upon [=found] this book by chance.
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He stumbled onto [=found out] the truth.
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We stumbled onto/across the ruins of an old fort.
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They stumbled on/upon [=discovered] a bizarre plot.
— stumble
noun, plural stumbles [count]-
After a few stumbles, the economy was back on track.
