Pronunciation: /stʌmps/
noun a difficult or challenging situation or problem
A1 The dog buried his bone under the stumps of the old tree.
A2 The hikers sat on the stumps to rest during their trek through the forest.
B1 The lumberjacks cleared the forest, leaving behind only stumps where the trees once stood.
B2 The baseball player tripped over one of the stumps while running to catch the ball.
C1 The arborist examined the stumps to determine the age and health of the trees that had been cut down.
C2 The artist used the stumps as inspiration for a series of sculptures depicting the beauty of nature.
verb to walk heavily or clumsily
A1 He stumps his toe on the table and yells in pain.
A2 The hiker stumps through the forest, trying to find the trail.
B1 The detective stumps the suspect with tough questions.
B2 The politician's speech stumps the audience with its complexity.
C1 The scientist's research stumps even the most knowledgeable experts in the field.
C2 The puzzle was so difficult that it stumped even the most experienced puzzlers.
formal The arborist examined the tree stumps to determine the age of the forest.
informal We sat on the tree stumps by the campfire and roasted marshmallows.
slang I tripped over those dang tree stumps in the yard again.
figurative The unexpected news left him feeling like he had been kicked in the stumps.
stumped
stumps
stumpier
stumpiest
stump
will stump
have stumped
is stumping
stump
stump
to stump
stumping
stumped