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

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And for the littlest patriots, PBS Kids will premiere Map Zappers, a new series from Arkansas PBS that follows three ordinary kids who stumble across a museum exhibit that contains artifacts from every U.S. state and territory. Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2025 Lune acts as the caretaker of the group, documenting their adventures in notes left for future expedition groups to stumble across. George Yang, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 2025 Coogler’s villains are white songcatchers who stumble onto the joint and rapidly grasp the future cultural resonance of the acoustic chops the film’s lead, Sammie (Miles Caton), is honing. Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2025 The show, aimed at 4-8s, follows the adventures of two imaginative siblings who stumble upon VR headsets that take them to Storyland, a world built on iconic stories from Indian mythology and folklore. Max Goldbart, Deadline, 22 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for stumble across/on/onto/upon

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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 24 May. 2025.

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