stumped

[ stuhmpt ]

adjective

1. completely at a loss; perplexed or nonplussed:

   The stumped officer could only stare at the strange object, trying to figure out what it might be.

2. reduced to a stump; truncated; lopped:

   Bowser was a small dog with a stumped tail.

   These hills are in fact the stumped remains of mountains millions of years old.

3. Chiefly Southern U.S. stubbed, as one’s toe:

   At the talk, someone in the audience joked, "A stumped toe is all I need as proof that matter is real!"

4. cleared of stumps:

   It was looking more and more impossible to get the recently cleared and stumped field ready for planting by April 26.

5. (of a crayon drawing, pencil rendering, etc.) toned or modified by means of a stump, a blunt-tipped tool made of tightly rolled paper, leather, etc.:

   A stumped drawing by Willem de Kooning, almost rubbed out, inspired our interest in the process of reproduction.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of stump.

Other Words From

• un·stumped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stumped¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; 1840–45 stumped fordef 3; stump ( def ) + -ed ²( def ) for the adjective senses; stump ( def ) + -ed ¹( def ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Their visits came a day after former President Trump held a rally in the Coachella Valley with Calvert, and weeks before former President Clinton stumped with Democratic House candidates in Orange County.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and former president Bill Clinton also stumped for their party’s candidate at rallies in downtown Mount Vernon and Cleveland, respectively.

From Salon

A man suspected of strangling three women to death in Ventura County in 1977 is headed to court after new DNA technology shed light on the serial slayings that had stumped detectives for decades.

From Los Angeles Times

If he had not been bowled, he would have been stumped by some distance.

From BBC

There were some moments the puzzles stumped me.

From Los Angeles Times