STUMP

I. noun Etymology: Middle English ~e; akin to Old High German ~f ~ and perhaps to Middle English stampen to stamp Date: 14th century 1. the basal portion of a bodily part remaining after the rest is removed, a rudimentary or vestigial bodily part, the part of a plant and especially a tree remaining attached to the root after the trunk is cut, a remaining part ; stub , one of the pointed rods stuck in the ground to form a cricket wicket, a place or occasion for public speaking (as for a cause or candidate), II. verb Date: 1581 transitive verb to reduce to a ~ ; trim , 2. dare , challenge , to frustrate the progress or efforts of ; baffle , to clear (land) of ~s, to travel over (a region) making political speeches or supporting a cause, 5. to walk over heavily or clumsily, stub 3, intransitive verb to walk heavily or clumsily, to go about making political speeches or supporting a cause, ~er noun III. noun Etymology: French or Dutch dialect; French estompe, from Dutch dialect stomp, literally, stub, from Middle Dutch; akin to Old High German ~f ~ Date: 1778 a short thick roll of leather, felt, or paper usually pointed at both ends and used for shading or blending a drawing in crayon, pencil, charcoal, pastel, or chalk, IV. transitive verb Date: 1807 to tone or treat (a drawing) with a ~