stumble Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun an unsteady uneven gait
stagger; lurch.
noun an unintentional but embarrassing blunder
trip-up; misstep; trip.
- he recited the whole poem without a single trip
- he arranged his robes to avoid a trip-up later
- confusion caused his unfortunate misstep
verb walk unsteadily
falter; bumble.
- The drunk man stumbled about
verb miss a step and fall or nearly fall
trip.
- She stumbled over the tree root
verb encounter by chance
hit.
- I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant
verb make an error
trip up; slip up.
- She slipped up and revealed the name

OE. stumblen, stomblen; freq. of a word akin to E. stammer. See Stammer.

imperfect & past participle Stumbled ; present participle & verbal noun Stumbling

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.
There stumble steeds strong and down go all. Chaucer.

The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know at what they stumble. Prov. iv. 19.
To walk in an unsteady or clumsy manner.
He stumbled up the dark avenue. Sir W. Scott.
To fall into a crime or an error; to err.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion og stumbling in him. 1 John ii. 10.
To strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; -- with on, upon, or against.
Ovid stumbled, by some inadvertency, upon Livia in a bath. Dryden.

Forth as she waddled in the brake, A gray goose stumbled on a snake. C. Smart.

To cause to stumble or trip.
Fig.: To mislead; to confound; to perplex; to cause to err or to fall.
False and dazzling fires to stumble men. Milton.

One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis. Locke.

A trip in walking or running.
A blunder; a failure; a fall from rectitude.
One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life. L'Estrange.