bumble
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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to bungle or blunder awkwardly; muddle.
He somehow bumbled through two years of college.
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to stumble or stagger.
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to speak in a low, stuttering, halting manner; mumble.
verb (used with object)
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to do (something) clumsily; botch.
noun
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an awkward blunder.
verb (used without object)
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to make a buzzing, humming sound, as a bee.
verb
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to speak or do in a clumsy, muddled, or inefficient way
he bumbled his way through his speech
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(intr) to proceed unsteadily; stumble
noun
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a blunder or botch
verb
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(intr) to make a humming sound
Other Word Forms
- bumbler noun
- bumbling noun
Etymology
Origin of bumble1
1525–35; perhaps blend of bungle and stumble
Origin of bumble2
1350–1400; Middle English bomblen, frequentative of bomben to boom, buzz; imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Could 9-8 be enough to bumble into the playoffs this season?
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025
When, in the farcical, action-oriented second half, some attempt to execute a … plot, they bumble and argue and push each other to the front.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2025
"We found that larger bumble bee queens, typically more likely to survive winter and establish successful colonies, were paradoxically more vulnerable to pesticide exposure," Dr. Rondeau explains.
From Science Daily • Nov. 18, 2024
Despite all the heavy talk, the film is peppered with moments of levity - the director occasionally cuts away abruptly from tough conversations to run footage of soothing shorelines and bumble bees on flowers.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2024
There was the sound like a great matted yellow hive of bees within a dark bellows, the lazy bumble of a purring lion.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.