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   stumble

   /ˈstʌmbl/

   verb

   • 1. trip or momentarily lose one's balance; almost fall: "her foot caught in the rug and she stumbled" Similar triptrip overtrip uplose one's balancelose/miss one's footingfounderslippitch
   • ▪ trip repeatedly as one walks: "his legs still weak, he stumbled after them" Similar staggertotterteeterdodderlurchlumberblunderreelflounderbumbleshamblehobblewobblemove clumsilysprauchle
   • ▪ make a mistake or repeated mistakes in speaking: "she stumbled over the words" Similar stammerstutterhesitatefalterspeak haltinglyfumble for wordsflounderblundermuddleinformal:fluff one's lines
   • ▪ find or encounter by chance: "a policeman had stumbled across a gang of youths"

   noun

   • 1. an act of stumbling: "he broke a bone in his foot in a stumble down an Alpine pass"
   • ▪ a stumbling walk: "he parodied my groping stumble across the stage"

   Word Origin Middle English (as a verb): from Old Norse, from the Germanic base of stammer.

   Derivatives

   • 1. stumbler noun

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • S

     1

   • T

     1

   • U

     1

   • M

     3

   • B

     3

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

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