stumper
Variant of stump
stump (stump)
noun
- the lower end of a tree or plant remaining in the ground after most of the stem or trunk has been cut off
- anything like a stump; specif.,
- the part of a limb or tooth left after the rest has been cut off, broken off, etc.
- the part of anything left after the main part is gone; butt; stub the stump of a pencil
- ☆
Etymology: from earlier use of tree stumps as speakers' platforms
the place where a political speech is made; political rostrum: a figurative usage - the sound of a heavy, clumsy, tramping step
- such a step
- a pointed roll of leather or paper used for shading drawings in charcoal, pencil, crayon, pastel, etc.
- Slang the legs
- Cricket any of the three upright sticks of a wicket
Etymology: ME stumpfe, prob. < or akin to MLowG stump < IE *stomb- < base *steb(h)- > stamp, staff
transitive verb
- to reduce to a stump; lop
- to remove stumps from (land)
- ☆ to travel over (a district), making political speeches; canvass
- to tone down or soften with a stump (sense )
- Informal to stub (one's toes, etc.)
- ☆ Informal to puzzle, perplex, or baffle
- Cricket to put (a batsman) out by striking a bail from the wicket with the ball while the batsman is out of his or her ground: said of the wicketkeeper
intransitive verb
- to walk with a heavy, clumsy, thumping step, as with a wooden leg
- ☆ to travel about, making political speeches
Related Forms:
- stumper stump′er noun
up a stump
☆Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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