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# stumble

«stumble» in Mova's school dictionary: **to trip and almost fall when walking or running** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (stumble, stumbles, stumbled, stumbling); noun (a stumble)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To stumble is to trip and almost fall when walking or running. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#m1)

2) To stumble is to make mistakes or stop when speaking or reading aloud. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#m2)

3) To stumble on or across something is to find it by chance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories «stumble» shows a character is tired, hurt, in the dark or scared. In reading lessons a pupil may «stumble over a hard word». In safety lessons, clear the floor so nobody stumbles over toys or cables. Adventure stories use «stumbled upon a secret cave». Phrases: «stumble over», «stumble on/upon/across».

### examples

- I stumbled on the stairs but didn't fall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x1)
- He stumbled over a tree root in the dark. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x2)
- She stumbled over the long word when reading aloud. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x3)
- We stumbled upon a hidden path in the woods. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x4)
- The tired hiker stumbled into camp. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x5)
- Pick up your toys so nobody stumbles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x6)
- The horse stumbled but kept running. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x7)
- Soon he stumbled upon thickly strewn dry willow sticks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/#x8)

### note

Past: stumbled. «Stumble» is almost falling; «trip» is catching your foot; «fall» means you end up on the ground. «Stumble on/across» = find by luck, not walk on.

### In the corpora

- [For an hour or two they stumble on, pretending every tree is an old friend, falling into holes, soaked and bruised.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood/13/)
- [Example: a boy in Toronto learning the piano keeps stumbling on one hard bar.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/303-console-games-building-crafts-and-music/3/)
- [In Manchester, Lettie's mum is slurring her words and stumbling at tea time, and she forgets Lettie's school play.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/497-tired-sad-or-drinking-parents-tell-a-trusted-adult/14/)
- [Drinking too much alcohol changes how people act: slurring words, stumbling, forgetting, getting loud.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/497-tired-sad-or-drinking-parents-tell-a-trusted-adult/32/)
- [At pick-up, Liam-Jay's mum is stumbling and slurring.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/524-wheres-your-dad-questions-and-cruel-jokes/35/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «stumble» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/stumble/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.