# stumble

Pronunciation: say "STUM-buhl" /ˈstʌmbəl/

## Verb

1. To trip or briefly lose your balance while walking, or to move with an unsteady, clumsy gait.
   - Simple: To trip and almost fall, or to walk in a clumsy, unsteady way.
   - _Tired hikers often stumble on the loose gravel near the summit._
   - _He stumbled in the dark, groping for the light switch._
2. To come upon a person or thing by chance, without planning or design.
   - Simple: To find or meet something by chance, without looking for it.
   - _She stumbled across an old letter while cleaning out the attic._
   - _Researchers occasionally stumble upon important findings entirely by accident._
3. To make a mistake or run into difficulty while doing or saying something.
   - Simple: To make a mistake or have trouble doing something.
   - _The speaker stumbled over the candidate's name during the introduction._
   - _Even experienced negotiators stumble when the stakes get this high._
6. To cause a person or animal to trip or lose their footing.
   - Simple: To make someone trip or lose their balance.
   - _The uneven cobblestones stumbled more than one tired traveler._
   - _A sudden gust can stumble even a sure-footed climber._
8. To mislead or confuse someone, or to cause them to fall into error or wrongdoing.
   - Simple: To lead someone into doing wrong, or to confuse them.
   - _Temptation stumbled many who believed themselves beyond its reach._
   - _Deceptive arguments can stumble the unwary reader into false belief._

## Noun

4. A fall, trip, or serious misstep made while moving.
   - Simple: A trip or fall, or a bad misstep while moving.
   - _A single stumble cost the runner her lead in the final lap._
   - _The dancer recovered gracefully from an early stumble._
5. An error or blunder in someone's words or actions.
   - Simple: A mistake or blunder in what someone says or does.
   - _A minor stumble in the testimony cast doubt on her whole account._
   - _The campaign never recovered from that early stumble._
7. An awkward, unsteady manner of walking.
   - Simple: A clumsy, unsteady way of walking.
   - _The injured horse moved across the yard with a painful stumble._
   - _His drunken stumble drew worried looks from the crowd._

## Origin

Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stam- ("to trip up; to stammer, stutter"), making it related to German stumm ("mute") and Dutch stom ("dumb"), and a doublet of stammer.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stumble (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).