I. ˈstəmbəl verb
( stumbled ; stumbled ; stumbling -b(ə)liŋ ; stumbles )
Etymology: Middle English stumblen, stomblen, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect stumle to stumble, Swedish dialect stumla; akin to Old English stamerian to stammer — more at stammer
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to fall into sin, error, or waywardness : err
though we stumbled and we strayed, we were led by evil counsellors — Rudyard Kipling
man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness — O.N.Bradley
b. : to falter through lack of knowledge or experience : blunder
people stumbling and learning and going forward to meet the realities of life and death — Marjorie Vetter
his thought staggers, and reels and stumbles — Martin Gardner
how many people in the final survey will stumble over the same obstacle — S.L.Payne
the problem that … other commanders had stumbled against — Tom Wintringham
c. : to come to a block or obstacle to belief
stumble at the doctrine of the elect
: scruple , demur
d. : to make a slip in speaking : mispronounce , stammer
voices that stumble and trip over proper names — F.L.Mott
tongue stumbled at the start — T.B.Costain
2. : to lose one's footing in walking or running so as to stagger or fall : trip
stumbled, laughed, lay there a moment … then got up — O.E.Rölvaag
stumbled and then, recovering herself, broke into a trot — Ellen Glasgow
grumbled whenever we stumbled in a shell hole — J.P.O'Neill
3.
a. : to walk or move in an unsteady or clumsy manner : stagger
strained and stumbled in their exertions like fat sheep — Stephen Crane
stumbled along the broken path — B.L.K.Henderson
stumbled through the dark hall — Erskine Caldwell
b. : to proceed, speak, or act in a hesitant or faltering manner
stumbled haphazardly through the 5th and 6th forms — Margaret A. Barnes
stumbled through the first prayer — Maeve Brennan
its plot creaks and stumbles awkwardly — Orville Prescott
the bassoon stumbles along precariously — P.H.Lang
4.
a. : to come or happen unexpectedly — usually used with on or upon
floundering around in the woods … stumbled on a blockhouse — P.W.Thompson
cannot adventure very long with an electron microscope … without stumbling upon something new — L.A.White
was so certain he had stumbled on the truth — T.B.Costain
is looking for one thing and stumbles on something much bigger — W.P.Webb
b. : to fall or move carelessly or inadvertently — usually used with into
was not long before he stumbled into a new folly — H.E.Scudder
traveler who stumbles into this world of passionate violence — Mark Schorer
stumbled into a job — Frank O'Leary
stumbled into immortality — David Dempsey
transitive verb
1. : to cause (a person or thing) to stumble : trip
stumbled my shin against a bedpost to give pain to my rage — Herbert Gold
2. : to cause to hesitate : confound , perplex
the problem stumbles him
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a trip in walking or running : tumble
taking a bad stumble
2. : an inadvertent error : slip , blunder
conversation … is a mass of stumbles, clumsy returns, and points missed — J.M.Barzun
a republic … must needs make many stumbles by the way — Katharine L. Bates