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stumbling

 - 3 dictionary results

stum⋅ble

  [stuhm-buhl] verb, -bled, -bling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1. to strike the foot against something, as in walking or running, so as to stagger or fall; trip.
2. to walk or go unsteadily: to stumble down a dark passage.
3. to make a slip, mistake, or blunder, esp. a sinful one: to stumble over a question; to stumble and fall from grace.
4. to proceed in a hesitating or blundering manner, as in action or speech (often fol. by along).
5. to discover or meet with accidentally or unexpectedly (usually fol. by on, upon, or across): They stumbled on a little village.
6. to falter or hesitate, as at an obstacle to progress or belief.
–verb (used with object)
7. to cause to stumble; trip.
8. to give pause to; puzzle or perplex.
–noun
9. the act of stumbling.
10. a moral lapse or error.
11. a slip or blunder.
Use stumbling in a Sentence
Origin:
1275–1325; ME stumblen; c. Norw stumla to grope and stumble in the dark; akin to stammer

Related forms:
stumbler, noun
stum⋅bling⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To stumbling
stum·ble   (stŭm'bəl)   
v.   stum·bled, stum·bling, stum·bles

v.   intr.

    1. To miss one's step in walking or running; trip and almost fall.

    2. To proceed unsteadily or falteringly; flounder. See Synonyms at blunder.

    3. To act or speak falteringly or clumsily.

  2. To make a mistake; blunder.

  3. To fall into evil ways; err.

  4. To come upon accidentally or unexpectedly: "The urge to wider voyages . . . caused men to stumble upon New America" (Kenneth Cragg).

v.   tr.
To cause to stumble.
n.  

  1. The act of stumbling.

  2. A mistake or blunder.


[Middle English stumblen, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse stumra.]
stum'bler n., stum'bling·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

stumble  (v.)
c.1303, "to trip or miss one's footing" (physically or morally), probably from a Scand. source (cf. dialectal Norw. stumla, Swed. stambla "to stumble"), probably from a variant of the P.Gmc. base *stam-, source of O.E. stamerian "to stammer," Ger. stumm "dumb, silent." Possibly influenced in form by stumpen "to stumble," but the -b- may be purely euphonious. Meaning "to come (upon) by chance" is attested from 1555. Stumbling-block first recorded 1526, used in Rom. xiv.13 to transl. Gk. skandalon. Stumblebum "alcoholic derelict" first recorded 1932.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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