fumble
Americanverb (used without object)
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to feel or grope about clumsily.
She fumbled in her purse for the keys.
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Sports. to fumble the ball.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the act of fumbling.
We completed the difficult experiment without a fumble.
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Sports. an act or instance of fumbling the ball.
verb
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(intr; often foll by for or with) to grope about clumsily or blindly, esp in searching
he was fumbling in the dark for the money he had dropped
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(intr; foll by at or with) to finger or play with, esp in an absent-minded way
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to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly
he fumbled the introduction badly
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to fail to catch or grasp (a ball, etc) cleanly
noun
Other Word Forms
- fumbler noun
- fumblingly adverb
- fumblingness noun
- outfumble verb (used with object)
- unfumbled adjective
- unfumbling adjective
Etymology
Origin of fumble
1500–10; akin to Norwegian, Swedish fumla, Middle Low German fummeln to grope, fumble
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Booked to play his hit single Ordinary, the 25-year-old was seen fumbling with his earpiece and singing completely out of time with the backing track.
From BBC
Grandpa hurried behind the counter, opened a drawer, and started fumbling through some papers.
From Literature
I had fumbled and tripped and spilled the gold.
From Literature
I don’t think I would’ve made this record if I hadn’t fumbled the ball a little.
From Los Angeles Times
He fumbled unfolding it, one edge of the paper getting stuck against the other side.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
