I. ˈstəmp noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English stumpe, stompe; akin to Middle Dutch stompe, stomp stub, stump, stomp blunt, Old High German stumpf stub, stump, stumpf mutilated, Old English stempan to stamp — more at stamp
1.
a. : the basal portion of a limb or other part of the body remaining after the rest of it is removed
the stump of his severed hand — Hamilton Basso
closure of the duodenal stump — F.W.Bancroft
b. : a rudimentary or vestigal growth or part of an organism
the cervical stump
motor nerve stump
2.
a. : the part of a tree or plant remaining in the earth after the stem or trunk is cut off : stub — compare snag
b. : a walnut stub including the underground portion that is used in making veneers
c. : the base of a tree
d. : the stalk of a plant after the leaves have been removed
cabbage stumps
3.
a. : leg — usually used in plural
stir your stumps, step lively
b. : an artificial leg
wore … a heavy wooden stump , which made a wooden sound as he walked — Osbert Sitwell
4.
a. : the remaining part of something that has been worn down or used up : stub
pencil stump
cigarette stump
b. : the portion of a worn or broken tooth remaining in the gum
having the stumps extracted
c. : a mountain peak reduced from a former height or size by some natural force
stumps of much higher mountains of an earlier day — W.W.Atwood †1949
d. : the stub of a ship's mast
the hulks or prison ships were old vessels reduced to their stumps
5.
a. stumps plural : hair cut down or growing close to the skin : stubble
b. : pinfeather
6.
a. : a short pillar used as a barrier or marker : post
b. : a small pillar at the entrance to a room in a mine
7.
a. : one of the three pointed rods used in cricket that are stuck in the ground and topped with two bails to form a wicket
b.
[short for stumper ]
: wicketkeeper
8.
a. archaic : a tree stump used as a platform especially by a political speaker
b. : a place or occasion for political public speaking
supported it actively on the stump and was elected — J.C.Yonge
9.
a. : a small piece or projection in a lock for the attachment of another part or the reception of a screw or a rivet
b. : fence 6
10. : a miniature anvil in a watchmaker's staking set
•
- go on the stump
- up a stump
II. adjective
: shaped like or suggesting a stump
a stump arm
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. : to cut off a part of : reduce to a stump : trim
stumping the plants
2. : to dismiss (a cricket batsman who is out of his ground in attempting to play a bowled ball) by breaking the wicket with the ball — sometimes used with out ; abbr. st
3.
a. : to challenge to do something difficult or daring
b. : to block the progress or efforts of : perplex , confound
a mystery that still stumps everyone — New Yorker
to become a universal genius and stump the experts — Nation's Business
a problem that had stumped the mind of man for ages — M.R.Cohen
4.
a. : to dig out by the roots
stumped all the trees on the place
b. : to take or burn stumps out of (land)
land … which we hoped to stump and plow ready for sowing — Alice F. Webb
5. chiefly Britain
a. : to pay out or come across with (money) — usually used with up
have been very decent and stumped up half a quid each — Dorothy Sayers
b. : to cause (a person) to become penniless
coming home from the races stumped
6. : to travel over (a region) making political speeches or supporting a cause
stumped the country by air, train, and automobile caravans — T.L.Stokes
was stumping the country for the league — Dixon Wecter
7.
a. : to walk over heavily or clumsily
stumping the deck by the hour
rising laboriously to the tips of my … shoes, I stumped the width of the bed and back again — Agnes deMille
b. : to strike (as the toe) against something : stub
those stupid roads … where you stumped your toe all the time — Samuel Selvon
intransitive verb
1. : to walk heavily or noisily : stumble
spat his contempt and stumped away — Roderick Finlayson
stumped through the puddles — Mollie Panter-Downes
stumping along eagerly on his iron support — T.B.Costain
2. chiefly Britain : to pay over money — usually used with up
if this was a bank, they'd have to stump up — Richard Llewellyn
3. : to go about making political speeches or supporting a cause
stumped harder than ever, covering every county in the state — Time
— often used with for
stumping for these devices and their morale-building … virtues — David Riesman
IV. noun
( -s )
: dare , challenge
V. noun
or stomp ˈstämp
( -s )
Etymology: French or Flemish; French estompe, from Flemish stump, stomp, literally, stub, from Middle Dutch stompe, stomp — more at stump I
: a short thick roll of leather or paper cut to a point or any similar implement used to rub down the lines of a crayon or pencil drawing in shading it or for shading drawings by producing tints and gradations from crayon in powder
VI. ˈstəmp transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to tone or treat (a crayon drawing) with a stump