- 1[intransitive] to hit your foot against something while you are walking or running, and almost fall synonym trip The child stumbled and fell. stumble over/on something I stumbled over a rock.
- 2[intransitive] + adv./prep. to walk or move in an unsteady way Max stumbled out of bed sleepily. We were stumbling around in the dark looking for a candle.
- 3[intransitive] stumble (over/through something) to make a mistake or mistakes and stop while you are speaking, reading to someone, or playing music In her nervousness she stumbled over her words. I stumbled through the piano piece with difficulty. Phrasal Verbsstumble acrossstumble into
stumble
verbNAmE//ˈstʌmbl//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they stumble he / she / it stumbles
past simple stumbled
-ing form stumbling
See stumble in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: stumble