stumbled on
Found by accident
To stumble on something is to discover it by accident rather than by searching: I stumbled on an old photo while cleaning out the attic.
The phrase evokes literally tripping over something in your path—finding it because it was there, not because you were looking.
Also *stumbled upon* or *stumbled across*.
- foundDiscovered or established
- serendipityAccidental fortunate discovery
- tripPlanned travel somewhere
- fell intoEntered by dropping
- fortuitousHappening by lucky chance
happen upon · uncover · meeting · lucky find · happy accident · happenstance · chance · coincidence · bump into · eureka · encounter · come across · ran across · aha moment · epiphany · revelation · cross paths · realization
stumbled ontracked down
Found by following leads
targeted · researched · investigated · pursued · looked for
stumbled onexpected
Regarded as likely
anticipated · predicted · foresaw · scheduled
stumbled onresearched
Sought knowledge systematically
investigated · dug up · excavated · deduced · reasoned out