stum ‧ ble /ˈstʌmb ə l/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language ]
1 . to hit your foot against something or put your foot down awkwardly while you are walking or running, so that you almost fall SYN trip :
In her hurry, she stumbled and spilled the milk all over the floor.
stumble over/on
Vic stumbled over the step as he came in.
2 . to walk in an unsteady way and often almost fall SYN stagger
stumble in/out/across etc
He stumbled upstairs and into bed.
3 . to stop or make a mistake when you are reading to people or speaking
stumble over/at/through
I hope I don’t stumble over any of the long words.
—stumble noun [countable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ fall ( also fall over , fall down ) to suddenly go down onto the floor when standing, walking, or running:
She fell on the stairs and broke her ankle.
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Children are always falling over.
▪ trip on/over something to fall or almost fall when you hit your foot against something:
Someone might trip over those toys.
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I tripped on a piece of wood.
▪ slip to fall or almost fall when you are walking on a wet or very smooth surface:
She slipped and hurt her ankle.
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I was scared I would slip on the highly polished floor.
▪ stumble to almost fall when you put your foot down in an awkward way:
He stumbled and almost fell.
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One of our porters stumbled on the rough ground.
▪ collapse to fall suddenly and heavily to the ground, especially when you become unconscious:
One of the runners collapsed halfway through the race.
▪ lose your balance to become unsteady so that you start to fall over:
She lost her balance on the first step and fell down the stairs.
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Have something to hold onto, in case you lose your balance.
▪ fall flat on your face to fall forwards so you are lying on your front on the ground:
She fell flat on her face getting out of the car.
stumble on/across/upon something phrasal verb
to find or discover something by chance and unexpectedly SYN come across :
Researchers have stumbled across a drug that may help patients with Parkinson’s disease.