Stump Meaning
/stʌmp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe remains of something that has been cut off; especially the remains of a tree, the remains of a limb.
nounThe place or occasion at which a campaign takes place; the husting.
Sentence Examples
But I have nothing left. I am just an old stump.
Tom sat on the stump loading his gun.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The difficult math problem managed to ____ even the smartest student in the class.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old tree was cut down last year, leaving only a weathered ____ in the middle of the empty field today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English stumpe, stompe (“stump”), from or akin to Middle Low German stump (“stump”) or Middle Dutch stomp, from Old Saxon or Old Dutch *stump, from Proto-West Germanic *stump, from Proto-Germanic *stumpaz (“stump, blunt, part cut off”). Displaced native Old English stofn. Cognate with Middle Dutch stomp (“stump”), Old High German stumph (“stump”) (German Stumpf), Old Norse stumpr (“stump”). More at stop.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Paul Muniment had taken hold of Hyacinth, and said, 'I'll trouble you to stay, you little desperado. I'll be blowed if I ever expected to see you on the stump!'"
— 1886, Henry James, The Princess Casamassima, London: Macmillan and Co.:
"A herd of boys with clamour bowled, / And stumped the wicket."
— 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Prologue”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
"Mrs Dibble made for the kitchen, stumping violently with her crutches and heaving her bulk along with the obvious determination to submerge her wrongs by resorting to the gin-bottle."
— 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 150:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The difficult math problem managed to ____ even the smartest student in the class.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old tree was cut down last year, leaving only a weathered ____ in the middle of the empty field today.