bumble
/ˈbʌmbəl/ noun, verb
Forms bumbles bumbling bumbled
- noun A confusion; a jumble.
- verb (intransitive) To act or move in an awkward or confused manner (often clumsily, incompetently, or carelessly). “Spiders build webs and wait for insects to bumble into them.”
- verb (originally Scotland and Northern England, transitive) To carry out (a task) clumsily, incompetently, or with many careless mistakes; to bungle, to botch.
- verb (intransitive) To boom, as a Eurasian bittern.
- verb (intransitive, of an insect) To buzz or bum.
- verb (intransitive, frequently with on) To speak in a rambling, incoherent, or indistinct manner, especially at tedious length.
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To grumble at; to blame.
- noun A bumblebee.
- noun (UK, Ireland, dialect) A Eurasian bittern.
Synonyms
botch bodge fumble botch up muff blow flub screw up ball up spoil muck up bungle fluff bollix bollix up bollocks bollocks up bobble mishandle louse up foul up mess up fuck up stumble falter stutter stammer
Etymology
Onomatopoeia. Compare bungle, jumble, and fumble.
* Verb: Frequentative of boom and/or bum, equivalent to bum + -le.
* Noun: From the verb.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The bittern. [Local, Eng.]
- verb To make a hollow or humming noise, like that of a bumblebee; to cry as a bittern.
Etymology [See Bump to boom.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bumble”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details