stumble, stomble

[STUMBLE, v.] 1. Lit .: The act of stumbling; a trip or blunder in walking or running. "I was told of a Spaniard, who having got a fall by a stumble, and broke his nose, rose up, and in a disdainful manner said, this is to walk upon earth." Letters, bk. i., let. 32. 2. Fig .: A blunder, a failure, a slip. Howell : stumbler, *stom-el-are, *stum-lere, subst . [Eng.stumbl(e); -er .] One who stumbles; one who makes a mistake, slip, failure, or blunder. "Where blockes are stridde by stumblers at a strawe." Gas coigne: Fruites of Warre. stumbling, pr . par . or a. [STUMBLE, v.] pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, pot, stumbling-block, *stumbling-stone, subst . A cause of stumbling; something in one's way, which causes one to stumble. (Stumbling-block is generally, if not exclusively, used figuratively.) "To show a stumbling - stone by night." Cowper: Glowworm. stum-bling-ly, adv. [Eng. stumbling; -ly.] In a stumbling manner. "I know not whether to marvel more, either that he [Chaucer] in that misty time could see so clearly, or that we in this clear age go so stumblingly after him."- Sidney : Defense of Poesy. stŭmmed, pa.par.ora . [STUM, v.] stump, *stompe, *stumpe, s. & a. [Icel.stumpr; Sw. & Dan. stump ; O. Dut. stompe; Dut. stomp; Ger. stumpf .] A. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. The short, fixed, or rooted part remaining after another part has been broken off, as the stub of a tree, the part that is left in the earth after the tree has been cut down; the part of a plant left in the earth after the plant has been cut down. "Down to the stump of yon old yew We'll for our whistles run a race." Words worth: Idle Shepherd Boys. 2. The part of a limb or the like remaining after a part has been amputated or destroyed. "One of the horses snapt off the end of his finger with the glove. I dre ed the stump with the common digestive."-Wiseman: Surgery, bk. v., ch. iii. 3. ( Pl .): The legs; as, to stir one's stumps . ( Col loq.) II. Technically : 1. Art : A short, thick roll of leather or paper cut to a point, and used to rub down the harsh or strong lines of a crayon or pencil drawing, or for shading it, or for rubbing solid tints on paper from colors in powder. 2. Cricket: One of the three posts or sticks which constitute the wicket. Their lower ends are pointed so as to be easily thrust into the ground. They stand twenty-seven inches out of the ground, and are fixed sufficiently close to each other to prevent the ball from pa ing through. The top ends are grooved to receive the ends of the bails. *B. As adj .: Like a stump; stumpy. "A heavie stompe leg of wood to go with all."- Ascham : Schoolmaster , bk. ii. On the stump: Touring or itinerating through a district or country, and making speeches on pol it ical or other questions. IMG:content-0458.png:[blocks in formation]