stumbled
Nearly fell over
Stumbled is the past tense of stumble—to trip or lose one's footing without falling completely: She stumbled on the uneven pavement.
By extension, to stumble is to speak haltingly or make errors: He stumbled through his presentation.
To stumble upon or stumble across something is to discover it by accident: I stumbled on an old photo while cleaning.
Lost footing suddenly
- fellTo chop down
- lurchedMoved with sudden unsteadiness
- staggeredShocked or unevenly spaced
- totteredWalked with instability
wobbled · faltered · misstep · unsteady · slipped · tumbled · sprawled · reeled
Spoke with involuntary repetitions
- stutteredSpoke with involuntary repetitions
- falteredLost momentum or confidence
- hesitatedPaused from uncertainty
- fumbledHandled awkwardly, dropped
halted · paused · tongue-tied · mumbled · sputtered · garbled · inarticulate · lost train of thought
Lost momentum or confidence
- flounderedStruggled ineffectively
- struggledExerted with difficulty
- fumbledHandled awkwardly, dropped
- gropedFelt about blindly
muddled through · labored · grappled · wavered · hesitated · uncertain · halting · tentative
Made a clumsy error
- slipped upMade a careless error
- erredMade a mistake
- miscalculatedComputed incorrectly
- misjudgedAssessed incorrectly
flubbed · bungled · botched · goofed · fumbled · misstep · gaffe · faux pas
Discovered or established
- discoveredFound something previously unknown
- encounteredCame upon or faced
- came acrossFound unexpectedly
- chanced uponDiscovered unexpectedly
happened upon · unearthed · uncovered · bumped into · ran into · serendipity · accident · lucky find
tripped
Lost footing suddenly
tottered · wobbled · faltered · misstep · unsteady · slipped · tumbled · sprawled · reeled · shambled
stammered
Spoke with involuntary repetitions
- stutteredSpoke with involuntary repetitions
- falteredLost momentum or confidence
- hesitatedPaused from uncertainty
fumbled · halted · paused · tongue-tied · mumbled · sputtered · garbled · inarticulate · lost train of thought · verbal slip
faltered
Lost momentum or confidence
- flounderedStruggled ineffectively
- struggledExerted with difficulty
- fumbledHandled awkwardly, dropped
groped · muddled through · labored · grappled · wavered · hesitated · uncertain · halting · tentative
blundered
Made a clumsy error
- slipped upMade a careless error
- erredMade a mistake
- miscalculatedComputed incorrectly
misjudged · flubbed · bungled · botched · goofed · fumbled · misstep · gaffe · faux pas · blooper
found
Discovered or established
- discoveredFound something previously unknown
- encounteredCame upon or faced
- came acrossFound unexpectedly
chanced upon · happened upon · unearthed · uncovered · bumped into · ran into · serendipity · accident · lucky find · fortuitous
stumbledsought
Attempted to find
investigated · researched · pursued · tracked down · planned
- stumbled uponFound unexpectedly
- stumble acrossFind unexpectedly, unintentionally
- stumble uponFind unexpectedly
- stumbled acrossFound without searching
- stumble onDiscover by chance
- stumbled onFound unexpectedly
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