fumble

fum·ble

 (fŭm′bəl)

v. fum·bled, fum·bling, fum·bles

v.intr.

1. To touch or handle nervously or idly: fumble with a necktie.

2. To grope awkwardly to find or to accomplish something: fumble for a key.

3. To proceed awkwardly and uncertainly; blunder: fumble through a speech.

4.

a. Football To drop a ball that is in play.

b. Baseball To mishandle a ground ball.

v.tr.

1. To touch or handle clumsily or idly: "fumbled the skeleton key into the lock and turned it" (Bentley Dadmun).

2. To make a mess of; bungle. See Synonyms at botch.

3. To feel or make (one's way) awkwardly.

4.

a. Football To drop (a ball) while in play.

b. Baseball To mishandle (a ground ball).

n.

1. The act or an instance of fumbling.

2. Sports A ball that has been fumbled.

---

[Middle English fomelen, to grope.]

---

fum′bler n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fumble

(ˈfʌmbəl)

vb

1. (intr; often foll by for or with) to grope about clumsily or blindly, esp in searching: he was fumbling in the dark for the money he had dropped.

2. (intr; foll by at or with) to finger or play with, esp in an absent-minded way

3. to say or do hesitantly or awkwardly: he fumbled the introduction badly.

4. (General Sporting Terms) to fail to catch or grasp (a ball, etc) cleanly

n

the act of fumbling

[C16: probably of Scandinavian origin; related to Swedish fumla]

ˈfumbler n

ˈfumblingly adv

ˈfumblingness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fum•ble

(ˈfʌm bəl)

v. -bled, -bling,
n. v.i.

1. to feel or grope about clumsily: He fumbled in his pocket for the keys.

2. to fail to hold a ball after having touched it or carried it, as in a baseball or football game.

3. to do something clumsily or unsuccessfully; blunder or fail.

v.t.

4. to make, handle, etc., clumsily or ineffectively; botch: to fumble an attempt.

5. to fail to hold (a ball) after having touched it or carried it.

n.

6. the act of fumbling.

7. an act or instance of fumbling the ball.

[1500–10]

fum′bler, n.

fum′bling•ly, adv.

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

fumble

Past participle: fumbled
Gerund: fumbling

Imperative

fumble

fumble

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

fumble

This occurs when a runner loses the ball before being tackled; results in a free ball.

Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	fumble - (sports) dropping the ball     muff blooper, blunder, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, pratfall, bloomer - an embarrassing mistake American football, American football game - a game played by two teams of 11 players on a rectangular field 100 yards long; teams try to get possession of the ball and advance it across the opponents goal line in a series of (running or passing) plays baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!"
Verb	1.	fumble - feel about uncertainly or blindly; "She groped for her glasses in the darkness of the bedroom" grope look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the missing man in the entire county"
	2.	fumble - make one's way clumsily or blindly; "He fumbled towards the door" blunder go across, pass, go through - go across or through; "We passed the point where the police car had parked"; "A terrible thought went through his mind"
	3.	fumble - handle clumsily palm, handle - touch, lift, or hold with the hands; "Don't handle the merchandise"
	4.	fumble - make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement" bobble, bodge, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, botch, botch up, bumble, bungle, flub, fluff, foul up, fuck up, louse up, mess up, mishandle, muck up, ball up, spoil, muff, screw up, blow go wrong, miscarry, fail - be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
	5.	fumble - drop or juggle or fail to play cleanly a grounder; "fumble a grounder" baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" play - participate in games or sport; "We played hockey all afternoon"; "play cards"; "Pele played for the Brazilian teams in many important matches"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

fumble

verb

1. grope, flounder, paw (informal), scrabble, feel around She crept from the bed and fumbled for her dressing gown.

2. stumble, struggle, blunder, flounder, bumble I fumbled around like an idiot.

3. bungle, spoil, botch, mess up, cock up (Brit. slang), mishandle, fuck up (offensive taboo slang), mismanage, muff, make a hash of (informal), make a nonsense of, bodge (informal), misfield I'd hate to fumble a chance like this.

noun

1. miss, mistake, slip, fault, error, blunder, botch, cock-up (slang), bodge (informal) Fans cheered a fumble by the home team's star.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fumble

verb

1. To reach about or search blindly or uncertainly:

feel, grabble, grope, poke.

2. To proceed or perform in an unsteady, faltering manner:

blunder, bumble, bungle, flounder, fudge, limp, muddle, shuffle, stagger, stumble.

3. To harm irreparably through inept handling; make a mess:

ball up, blunder, boggle, botch, bungle, foul up, gum up, mess up, mishandle, mismanage, muddle, muff, spoil.

Informal: bollix up, muck up.

Slang: blow, goof up, louse up, screw up, snafu.

Idiom: make a muck of.

noun

A stupid, clumsy mistake:

blunder, bull, bungle, foozle, muff, stumble.

Informal: blooper, boner.

Slang: bloomer, goof.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

يَرمي الطّابَة أو يَتَلَقّاها بارتِباكيَستَعْمِلُ يَدَيْه بارْتِباك

pohrávat sišmátratupustit/nechytit/zkazit míč

fumlemistetabe

herumfummelntasten

tâtonner

ügyetlenül kezel

fálma, gera klaufalega

frugaregoffomaneggiare

grabaliotigrabinėtiišleisti iš rankų kamuolįprarasti kamuolį

grābstītiesnenokertnetrapitneveikli rīkotiesņurcīt

fomlemiste vekk ballen

nezachytiť letiacu loptupohrávať sašmátrať

beceriksizce tutmakel yordamıyla ara mak

乱摸失球摸索

fumble

[ˈfʌmbl]

A. VT (= drop) → dejar caer; (= handle badly) → manosear, coger or (LAm) agarrar con torpeza
to fumble one's way along → ir a tientas

B. VI (also fumble about) → hurgar
to fumble in one's pockets → hurgar en los bolsillos
to fumble for sth → buscar algo con las manos
to fumble for a word → titubear buscando una palabra
to fumble with sth → manejar algo torpemente
to fumble with a door → forcejear para abrir una puerta

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fumble

[ˈfʌmb^əl]

vi → fouiller, tâtonner

vt [+ ball] → mal réceptionner, cafouiller

fumble for

vt → fouiller pour trouver

fumble with

vt fus → tripoter

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

fumble

vi (also fumble about or around) → umhertasten or -tappen; to fumble in the dark → im Dunkeln herumtasten or -tappen; to fumble in one’s pockets → in seinen Taschen wühlen; to fumble (about) for something → nach etw suchen or tasten; (in case, pocket, drawer) → nach etw wühlen; to fumble with something → an etw (dat) → herumfummeln; to fumble for words → nach Worten suchen or ringen

vt → vermasseln (inf), → verpfuschen (inf); to fumble the ball → den Ball nicht sicher fangen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

fumble

[ˈfʌmbl]

1. vi (also fumble about) to fumble (about) in one's pockets → frugare or rovistare nelle tasche
to fumble in the dark → andare a tastoni or a tentoni, brancolare
to fumble with sth → armeggiare con qc

2. vt to fumble a catch → mancare una presa
to fumble a ball → lasciarsi sfuggire di mano una palla

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

fumble

(ˈfambl) verb

1. to use one's hands awkwardly and with difficulty. He fumbled with the key; She fumbled about in her bag for her key. rondtas يَستَعْمِلُ يَدَيْه بارْتِباك бърникам remexer pohrávat si; šmátrat herumfummeln fumle παίζω με τα χέρια μου αδέξια buscar/revolver a tientas/torpemente, manejar torpemente kohmitsema کورمال کردن hapuilla tâtonner לְגַשֵׁש बेढंगे तरीके से टटोलना nespretno rukovati, tražiti kotorászik mencari-cari fálma, gera klaufalega armeggiare; frugare 手探りする 서투르게 만지다 grabalioti, grabinėti grābstīties; taustīties (kaut ko meklējot); ņurcīt; neveikli rīkoties meraba-raba onhandig doen famle, fomle, rote gmerać, grzebać هرى خواته لاس او پښې اچول، ل ا لهانده كېدل. remexer a dibui копаться pohrávať sa; šmátrať tipati (z, za) petljati fumla, rota, gräva คลำหรือจับอย่างงุ่มง่าม el yordamıyla ara(n)mak 亂摸，摸索 намацувати ٹٹولنا dò dẫm; sờ soạng 乱摸，摸索

2. to drop a ball (clumsily), or fail to hold or catch it. onhandig wees يَرمي الطّابَة أو يَتَلَقّاها بارتِباك изпортвам (топка) deixar cair upustit/nechytit/zkazit míč den Ball fallen lassen tabe; miste κρατώ αδέξια dejar caer kohmerdama افتادن توپ از دست sählätä fouiller לְהַשמִיט हाथ से इधर-उधर पलटना ispustiti (loptu) ügyetlenül kezel menjatuhkan/gagal menangkap bola lasciarsi sfuggire （球を）ファンブルする 공을 놓치다 prarasti/išleisti iš rankų kamuolį netrāpīt (bumbai); nenoķert (bumbu) terkial-kial hendak menangkap laten vallen miste/rote vekk ballen stracić لاس اچونه د توب a dibui упустить мяч nezachytiť letiacu loptu nerodno prijeti žogo ispustiti missa, tappa รับลูกบอลไม่ได้ หรือทำลูกบอลหลุดมือ beceriksizce tutmak （在球賽中）失球 не втримати м'яча گیند کو روک نہ سکنا làm việc gì một cách lóng ngóng, vụng về （在球赛中）失球

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.