stumble

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: lurchstaggertriptrip-upmisstepfalterbumblehitslip uptrip up

WordNet 3.0

Noun (2)

  1. an unsteady uneven gaitSynonyms: lurchstagger
  2. an unintentional but embarrassing blunder“he recited the whole poem without a single trip”“he arranged his robes to avoid a trip-up later”“confusion caused his unfortunate misstep”Synonyms: triptrip-upmisstep

Verb (4)

  1. walk unsteadily“The drunk man stumbled about”Synonyms: falterbumble
  2. miss a step and fall or nearly fall“She stumbled over the tree root”Synonyms: trip
  3. encounter by chance“I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant”Synonyms: hit
  4. make an error“She slipped up and revealed the name”Synonyms: slip uptrip up
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Stumble \Stum"ble\, v. t.

1.To cause to stumble or trip. [1913 Webster]

2.Fig.: To mislead; to confound; to perplex; to cause to err or to fall. [1913 Webster]

False and dazzling fires to stumble men.— Milton.[1913 Webster]
One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis.— Locke.[1913 Webster]
Stumble \Stum"ble\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Stumbled; p. pr. & vb. n. Stumbling.] [OE. stumblen, stomblen; freq. of a word akin to E. stammer. See Stammer.]

1.To trip in walking or in moving in any way with the legs; to strike the foot so as to fall, or to endanger a fall; to stagger because of a false step. [1913 Webster]

There stumble steeds strong and down go all.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know at what they stumble.— Prov. iv. 19.[1913 Webster]

2.To walk in an unsteady or clumsy manner. [1913 Webster]

He stumbled up the dark avenue.— Sir W. Scott.[1913 Webster]

3.To fall into a crime or an error; to err. [1913 Webster]

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion og stumbling in him.— 1 John ii. 10.[1913 Webster]

4.To strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; -- with on, upon, or against. [1913 Webster]

Ovid stumbled, by some inadvertency, upon Livia in a bath.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
Forth as she waddled in the brake, A gray goose stumbled on a snake.— C. Smart.[1913 Webster]
Stumble \Stum"ble\, n.

1.A trip in walking or running. [1913 Webster]

2.A blunder; a failure; a fall from rectitude. [1913 Webster]

One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.— L'Estrange.[1913 Webster]
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