stump
pronunciation
How to pronounce stump in British English:
UK [stʌmp]
How to pronounce stump in American English:
US [stʌmp]
-
- Noun:
- the base part of a tree that remains standing after the tree has been felled
- the part of a limb or tooth that remains after the rest is removed
- (cricket) any of three upright wooden posts that form the wicket
- a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it
-
- Verb:
- cause to be perplexed or confounded
- walk heavily
- travel through a district and make political speeches
- remove tree stumps from
Word Origin
- stump (n.)
- "part of a tree trunk left in the ground after felling," mid-15c. (implied from late 13c. in surnames); from mid-14c. as "remaining part of a severed arm or leg;" from or cognate with Middle Low German stump (from adjective meaning "mutilated, blunt, dull"), Middle Dutch stomp "stump," from Proto-Germanic *stamp- (cognates: Old Norse stumpr, Old High German stumph, German stumpf "stump," German Stummel "piece cut off"), from PIE *stebh- "post, stem; to support" (see step (v.).
- stump (v.)
- early 13c., "to stumble over a tree-stump or other obstacle" (obsolete), from the source of stump (n.). From 1590s as "reduce to a stump." Sense of "walk stiffly and clumsily" is first recorded c. 1600. Sense of "baffle, bring to a halt by obstacles or impediments" is first recorded 1807, American English, perhaps in reference to plowing newly cleared land, but compare earlier sense "to challenge, dare" (1766). Meaning "go on a speaking tour during a political campaign" is from 1838, American English, from phrase stump speech (1820), large tree stumps being a natural perch for rural orators (this custom is attested from 1775), especially in new settlements. Related: Stumped; stumping.
Example
- 1. Bobby joined his friends and sat on a flat slab of granite beside the stump .
- 2. She found a spot where it had circled a chestnut stump , probably for scent marking .
- 3. On the jagged stump of a recently fallen tree juday points to another fingerprint of warming .
- 4. But to michael taylor a professional big-tree hunter there are tantalizing signs of the stump 's potential .
- 5. But to michael taylor , a professional big-tree hunter , there are tantalizing signs of the stump 's potential .