stumble across/on/onto/upon

idiom

: to find or learn about (something) unexpectedly
I stumbled across/on/upon this book by chance.
We stumbled onto/across the ruins of an old fort.
They stumbled on/upon a bizarre plot.
He stumbled onto the truth.

Examples of stumble across/on/onto/upon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That’s what audience members, those who plan to attend or those who stumble across the performances, could get out of Resonant Spaces. Joshua Barone, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024 Young musicians still learning their way around an instrument are often more likely to stumble across a really cool idea, Cooper says. Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 2 Apr. 2024 There’s also no need to allow packaging that might confuse young children who stumble on a stash. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024 Finding The Right Candidate One of the issues a DAO may stumble upon is the current application process, both because it is centralized in nature and because employers are increasingly wanting to hire people based on their skills rather than traditional education. Dina Mattar, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024 Dudesy For people who stumble onto the Dudesy podcast without any context, the magical realism of the Dudesy AI can be a bit confusing. Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2024 The twosome meet up with Ayaka’s eccentric friends at a sushi restaurant (the funniest sequence) and then stumble upon a game-changing discovery. Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024 The lawsuit may stumble on other grounds, like the claims about OpenAI’s creation of a for-profit arm. Will Knight, WIRED, 1 Mar. 2024 Movies like 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — in which a group of friends stumble upon a family of cannibals and are chased by a guy wielding a chainsaw — which came out just before the end of the Vietnam War. Brianna Scott, NPR, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stumble across/on/onto/upon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near stumble across/on/onto/upon

stumble

stumble across/on/onto/upon

stumblebum

Cite this Entry

“Stumble across/on/onto/upon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stumble%20across%2Fon%2Fonto%2Fupon. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

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