MEANING
1. To trip or move, speak, or act unsteadily because of an obstacle or difficulty.
2. To encounter something unexpectedly rather than through a planned search.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- stumble over words
- stumble on uneven ground
On the page
She stumbled over the unfamiliar name.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- stumble
- Past tense
- stumbled
- Past participle
- stumbled
- Present participle
- stumbling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- stumble
- Present continuous
- am/is/are stumbling
- Present perfect
- have/has stumbled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been stumbling
- Past
- stumbled
- Past continuous
- was/were stumbling
- Past perfect
- had stumbled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been stumbling
- Future
- will stumble
- Future continuous
- will be stumbling
- Future perfect
- will have stumbled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been stumbling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: stumble; stumbles; stumbled; stumbled; stumbling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: stumbles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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