1
as in shuffling
to move heavily or clumsily
the seemingly endless parade finally ended, and the drummers and tuba players stumped wearily to their buses
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in daring
to invite (someone) to take part in a contest or to perform a feat
when my grandfather was a kid, he and his friends would stump one another to dive into the local swimming hole
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stumping
After successfully stumping Consuelos with a bit of trivia of her own, a contestant named Rachel was then tasked with answering a question about recent Live guest and Virgin River actress Alexandra Breckenridge.
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Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Dec. 2025
Others like Taylor Swift, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jane Fonda offered simple endorsements without stumping for the vice president.
—Jenny Goldsberry, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2025
Elsewhere, Donald Washberg is stumping dressed like Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 29 Oct. 2025
With a national fundraising blitz in full swing and Election Day just around the corner, Democrats stumping for Proposition 50 have far out-raised and out-spent their opponents — even though a California megadonor with Republican ties single-handedly spent $30 million to defeat it.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 25 Oct. 2025
There is such a gap between the sides that Phil Mickelson is out here stumping for Mike Krzyzewski and 88-year-old Lou Holtz.
—Hugh Kellenberger, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
The caller won a prize by stumping the cast.
—Dave Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stumping
Verb
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Go on a street food tour Street food tours are great things to do in Sicily and a fabulous alternative to hours of shuffling through museums.—
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It's designed to offer a satisfying and calming shuffling motion, guided by a strong magnet and a seamless sliding track on the inside.—
Verb
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Wednesday nominee Jenna Ortega turned heads in a Dilara Findikoglu dress with daring cutouts paired with Simone Jewels earrings and rings.—
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Tonight, the Die My Love star attended the 2026 Golden Globes in something daring and sexy—a sheer dress from Sarah Burton’s Givenchy.—
Verb
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The Packers are stumbling coming into the playoff with four straight losses, two of them via absolute giveaways.—
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Government agencies and businesses that invest in this training, and that insist every critical number survives a deterministic check, will capture AI's benefits without stumbling into its blind spots.—
Verb
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The sheriff’s office has rejected Cal-OSHA’s application of the law, and last summer filed a lawsuit in Yuba Superior Court challenging the subpoenas.—
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Now one of his staffers is challenging her in her primary.—
Verb
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Then there’s the people watching, from the tailgating to the communal divot stomping, full of dramatic sun dresses and hats with flourishes, seersucker suits and, yes, hats with flourishes.—
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When episode 8 opens, Maia is stomping around NYC’s Chinatown, eager to find a pretext for breaking no-contact.—
Cite this Entry
“Stumping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumping. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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