stumbles

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of stumble.

   The exhausted runner stumbles as she crosses the finish line.

   Whenever the speaker reaches that point, he stumbles over the unfamiliar name.

   Note

   The -s form carries every use of the verb, and the word that follows often decides the meaning. She stumbles over a name means trouble or error. He stumbles on or upon an answer means finding it by chance, without design. With no complement it can be purely physical, as when a runner stumbles. With a direct object it turns causative: a doubt that stumbles a believer misleads him.

   She stumbles upon the old letters while clearing the attic.

   The riddle stumbles even the cleverest guests.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of stumble.

   The toddler's first steps were a series of wobbly stumbles across the rug.

   Early stumbles in the campaign cost the candidate valuable support.

   Note

   The same spelling does two jobs: it is the plural noun here and the present-tense verb in "she stumbles." As a noun it can count any of the base word's meanings: literal falls and missteps, errors and blunders, or bouts of clumsy walking. Stumbles across a rug and stumbles in a campaign use the same plural in different ways. A determiner or adjective in front, such as early or a series of, marks the noun.

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