Stumble
(Stum"ble), n.
1. A trip in walking or running.
2. A blunder; a failure; a fall from rectitude.
One stumble is enough to deface the character of an honorable life.
L'Estrange. Stumbler
(Stum"bler) n. One who stumbles.
Stumbling-block
(Stum"bling-block`) n. Any cause of stumbling, perplexity, or error.
We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
1 Cor. i.
23. Stumblingly
(Stum"bling*ly) adv. In a stumbling manner.
Stumbling-stone
(Stum"bling-stone`) n. A stumbling-block.
This stumbling-stone we hope to take away.
T. Burnet. Stump
(Stump) n. [OE. stumpe, stompe; akin to D. stomp, G. stumpf, Icel. stumpr, Dan. & Sw.
stump, and perhaps also to E. stamp.]
1. The part of a tree or plant remaining in the earth after the stem or trunk is cut off; the stub.
2. The part of a limb or other body remaining after a part is amputated or destroyed; a fixed or rooted
remnant; a stub; as, the stump of a leg, a finger, a tooth, or a broom.
3. pl. The legs; as, to stir one's stumps. [Slang]
4. (Cricket) One of the three pointed rods stuck in the ground to form a wicket and support the bails.
5. A short, thick roll of leather or paper, cut to a point, or any similar implement, used to rub down the
lines of a crayon or pencil drawing, in shading it, or for shading drawings by producing tints and gradations
from crayon, etc., in powder.
6. A pin in a tumbler lock which forms an obstruction to throwing the bolt, except when the gates of the
tumblers are properly arranged, as by the key; a fence; also, a pin or projection in a lock to form a guide
for a movable piece.
Leg stump (Cricket), the stump nearest to the batsman. — Off stump (Cricket), the stump farthest
from the batsman. — Stump tracery (Arch.), a term used to describe late German Gothic tracery, in
which the molded bar seems to pass through itself in its convolutions, and is then cut off short, so that
a section of the molding is seen at the end of each similar stump. — To go on the stump, or To take
the stump, to engage in making public addresses for electioneering purposes; — a phrase derived from
the practice of using a stump for a speaker's platform in newly-settled districts. Hence also the phrases
stump orator, stump speaker, stump speech, stump oratory, etc. [Colloq. U.S.]
Stump
(Stump), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stumped ; p. pr. & vb. n. Stumping.]
1. To cut off a part of; to reduce to a stump; to lop.
Around the stumped top soft moss did grow.
Dr. H. More. 2. To strike, as the toes, against a stone or something fixed; to stub. [Colloq.]
