- [countable] the bottom part of a tree left in the ground after the rest has fallen or been cut downTopics Plants and treesc2
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- [countable] the end of something or the part that is left after the main part has been cut, broken off or worn away
- the stump of a pencil
- [countable] the short part of somebody’s leg or arm that is left after the rest has been cut off
- [countable, usually plural] (in cricket) one of the set of three wooden sticks (called the stumps) that stand in the ground and form the wicket
- The ball went past the batsman and hit the stumps.
- usually the stump[singular] (especially North American English, informal) the fact of a politician going to different places before an election and trying to get people’s support by making speeches
- on the stump politicians on the stump
- The senator gave his standard stump speech.
Word OriginMiddle English (denoting a part of a limb remaining after an amputation): from Middle Low German stump(e) or Middle Dutch stomp. The early sense of the verb was ‘stumble’.
Idioms
See stump in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarystir your stumps
- (old-fashioned, British English, informal) to begin to move; to hurry
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