stumble meaning

stumble as a verb

1. walk unsteadily
   • The drunk man stumbled about

   Synonyms: falter, bumble

   Type of: walk

2. miss a step and fall or nearly fall
   • She stumbled over the tree root

   Synonyms: trip

   Type of: move

   Kinds: founder

   Related forms: stumbler

3. encounter by chance
   • I stumbled across a long-lost cousin last night in a restaurant

   Synonyms: hit

   Type of: come by

4. make an error
   • She slipped up and revealed the name

   Synonyms: slip up, trip up

   Type of: err

   Related forms: stumbler

stumble as a noun

1. an unsteady uneven gait

   Synonyms: lurch, stagger

   Type of: gait

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: trip, trip-up, misstep

   Type of: blunder

How to pronounce stumble

stumble is pronounced /ˈstʌmbəl/ in British English and /ˈstʌmbəl/ in American English. It has 2 syllables, with the stress on the first syllable.

Words that rhyme with stumble

• fumble
• humble
• grumble
• rumble
• jumble
• mumble
• crumble
• umbel
• bumble