stumps
Confuses or perplexes
Stumps are what remain when something is cut short—the base of a tree after felling, the remnant of a limb after amputation, or the stub of a pencil worn down by use.
In cricket, stumps are the three upright posts forming the wicket.
To stump is to baffle or perplex: The riddle stumped everyone.
Politicians stump when they campaign, traveling to give speeches—from the old practice of speaking from tree stumps.
He's out on the stump in Iowa this week.
Wicket's top pieces
- wicketsCricket's wooden targets
- bowlingPin-toppling pastime
- battingSwinging at pitches
- pitchFrequency of sound
crease · runout · innings · overs · fielding · umpire · boundary · maiden
Underground nutrient absorbers
- trunkMain stem or storage
- chainsawMotor-driven cutting tool
- ringsCircular bands worn
- rotOrganic breakdown process
decay · fungi · regrowth · clearing · logging · felling · deadwood · woodpile
Manufactured replacement body part
- prostheticManufactured body substitute
- limbJointed bodily projection
- amputationSurgical limb removal
- phantom painSensation from removed limb
rehabilitation · mobility · socket · residual · physiotherapy · adaptation · wound · healing
What stays after most goes
- ruinsDecayed structural remains
- vestigesRemaining traces of something
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
- debrisScattered broken fragments
rubble · leftovers · fragments · traces · residue · skeleton · shells · husks
Systematic direct voter outreach
- electioneeringPolitical campaign activity
- speechmakingDelivering formal spoken addresses
- ralliesGathers or recovers
- touringTraveling for pleasure
whistle-stop · podium · voters · grassroots · hustings · barnstorming · soapbox · outreach
Perplexes or confuses deeply
- confusesCauses mental disarray
- perplexesCauses mental confusion
- mystifiesConfuses thoroughly
- bewildersCauses thorough confusion
flummoxes · riddle · brainteaser · conundrum · quandary · puzzled · nonplussed · head-scratcher
bails
Wicket's top pieces
pitch · crease · runout · innings · overs · fielding · umpire · boundary · maiden · yorker
roots
Underground nutrient absorbers
rot · decay · fungi · regrowth · clearing · logging · felling · deadwood · woodpile · firewood
prosthesis
Manufactured replacement body part
- prostheticManufactured body substitute
- limbJointed bodily projection
- amputationSurgical limb removal
phantom pain · rehabilitation · mobility · socket · residual · physiotherapy · adaptation · wound · healing · trauma
remnants
What stays after most goes
- ruinsDecayed structural remains
- vestigesRemaining traces of something
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
debris · rubble · leftovers · fragments · traces · residue · skeleton · shells · husks · foundations
canvassing
Systematic direct voter outreach
- electioneeringPolitical campaign activity
- speechmakingDelivering formal spoken addresses
- ralliesGathers or recovers
touring · whistle-stop · podium · voters · grassroots · hustings · barnstorming · soapbox · outreach · politicking
baffles
Perplexes or confuses deeply
bewilders · flummoxes · riddle · brainteaser · conundrum · quandary · puzzled · nonplussed · head-scratcher · bamboozles
- Forest Termsoak, pine, spruce, fir, cedar
- forest debrisdead leaves, twigs, pine needles, fallen logs, rotting logs
- lumber industrysawmill, logs, timber harvesting, logging, lumber yards
- lumberjackinglumberjack, logger, chainsaw, axe, felling
- coppicingcoppice, pollard, pollarding, stool, stools
- cricket wicketsbails
stumpsenlightens
Imparts knowledge or insight
explains · clarifies · illuminates · elucidates · demystifies
- tree stumpCut trunk remnant
- stump speechCandidate's standard campaign oration
- dumb as a stumpIdiom for extreme stupidity
- stump speechesRepeated political orations
- bloody stump
- on the stumpActively seeking political support
stump, stumped, stumpy, stumping, stumper, stumpers, stumpier, stump grinder