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fumble

verb
/ˈfʌmbəl/

Etymology

From late Middle English, from Low German fummeln, fommeln, fammeln (German fummeln), or Dutch fommelen. Or, perhaps from a Scandinavian/North Germanic source; compare related Old Norse fálma, Icelandic fálma, Danish fumle, especially Swedish fumla, famla, with variants: fumbla (“fumble”), fambla (“famble”), related to Swedish fim, fem (Danish fim, Norwegian fim, feima), with a root meaning of “cover, coating of foam or figuratively ditto”, cognate to German Feim (“surf”) and English foam. Possibly has (a more or less unconscious) connection to fathom (via Old Norse faðmr, Swedish famn) in the sense of “embrace”. The ultimate origin for either could perhaps be imitative of fumbling. Or, from Proto-Indo-European *pal- (“to shake, swing”), see also Latin palpo (“to pat, touch softly”), and possibly Proto-West Germanic *fōlijan (“to feel”).

  1. derived from *pal-✻
  2. derived from fommelen
  3. derived from fummeln

Definitions

  1. To handle nervously or awkwardly.

    • Waiting for the interview, he fumbled with his tie.
    • He fumbled the key into the lock.

  2. To grope awkwardly in trying to find something

    • He fumbled for his keys.
    • He fumbled his way to the light-switch.
    • Adams novv began to fumble in his Pockets, and ſoon cried out, O la! I have it [a sermon] not about me— […]

  3. To blunder uncertainly.

    • He fumbled through his prepared speech.
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. To grope about in perplexity

      To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly.

      • to fumble for an excuse
      • My understanding stutters, and my memory fumbles.
      • Alas! how he fumbles about the domains.

    2. To drop a ball or a baton etc. by accident.

      • Henderson's best strike on goal saw goalkeeper Kingson uncomfortably fumble his measured shot around the post.

    3. To handle much

      To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.

      • I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers.

    4. Of a man, to sexually underperform.

    5. A ball etc. that has been dropped by accident.

    6. A clumsy sexual encounter.

      • Suzy and Jimmy had a fumble behind the bike shed.

    7. A dessert similar to a cross between a fool and a crumble.

The neighborhood

Derived

fumble-fingered, fumblefingers, fumbler, fumblesome, fumble the bag, fumblingly, fumblingness, outfumble, unfumbled, unfumbling

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for fumble. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA