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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stumping
But one skin dilemma that’s stumping even me is why everyone thinks their skin looks so dull right now.
—
Jacqueline Kilikita, Refinery29, 20 Jan. 2026
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.
—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
Jacqueline Kilikita, Refinery29, 20 Jan. 2026
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.
—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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These chips spend most of their energy shuffling data between a memory unit and a processor.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Mar. 2026
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So what better way to cap all that off than closing out the Oscars — even if the clip played while the audience was shuffling out of the theater and calling their Ubers.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Months after a daring hunger strike failed to pause development of Anthropic’s AI Claude, protestors have rallied around the company’s headquarters to call for a complete stop to AI development.—
Joe Wilkins,
Futurism,
26 Mar. 2026
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At the beginning of the daring raid, a series of US strikes hit targets across Venezuela.—
Michael Rios,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Shopping on Rue La La feels a lot like stumbling across a secret sale, with some of the very best deals on designer goods, including swoon-worthy handbags.—
Jessie Quinn,
StyleCaster,
20 Mar. 2026
-
The bubble was the softest in recent memory, with one team after another stumbling late in the season.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
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One of them was cleared for competition after approval last week, while the other — who has repeatedly identified herself as a cisgender woman — is challenging the World Boxing testing requirement in court.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
26 Mar. 2026
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Gorgeously shot, a tender portrait of community in northern Maine, finding metaphor in natural imagery while challenging preconceptions about gender and class.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Expect to see crunching tackles, stomping recovery runs and heroic blocks from a 22-year-old centre-back who will be a leader for his country at their first World Cup.—
The Athletic Staff,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2026
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So, let’s circle back to the original question on stomping.—
Adam Cohen,
Oklahoman,
3 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stumping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stumping. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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