(v. i.) To feel or grope about; to make awkward attempts to do or find something.
(v. i.) To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly; as, to fumble for an excuse.
(v. i.) To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.
(v. t.) To handle or manage awkwardly; to crowd or tumble together.
Example Sentences:
(1) Jesús Navas played a one-two with Touré down the right and from his awkward cross the England squad goalkeeper fumbled the ball inside his six-yard area from where Fernando scored with an overhead kick as dextrous as it was surprising.
(2) And it's very nearly a huge play to open the game, as return man Kyle Williams fumbles the ball as he gets hit ... but manages to recover it himself.
(3) Suddenly the game seemed to be slipping away from the Ravens, matters going from bad to worse as Ray Rice fumbled at the Baltimore 24.
(4) As City fumble their hold on the Premier League trophy, United's grip tightens.
(5) January 7, 2014 SEC Football (@SECfootball) That fumble was a very Heisman-like fumble.
(6) Lofts it into the box and Barthez fumbles, gathers, then releases Henry.
(7) Instagram in particular came to gain from Flickr’s fumble.
(8) When Kerry arrived in Paris, he rushed to warmly embrace the French president, but when Hollande went to give Kerry a typical French greeting ( une bise ), Kerry fumbled – and for a moment it looked like the two men were about to start french kissing for real.
(9) They go back to James a play later and he's in trouble, but spins into space before dropping the ball - FUMBLE!
(10) Another hostage, Joel Herat, screamed “He’s chasing us!” as Morton-Hoffman fumbled to open the main door.
(11) It began with a turnover, as Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson fumbled away possession on the very first play, and effectively ended with one too, Smith’s interception killing San Francisco’s final comeback attempt with just 22 seconds left to play.
(12) 49ers 20-10 Panthers, 8:53, 3rd quarter Kaepernick fumbles on the next drive!
(13) They had started with a short field after Terrelle Thomas intercepted Terrelle Pryor, taking the ball back on a helter-skelter return which ended with the defender fumbling the ball at the Oakland five-yard line, only for officials to rule that he had been down by contact.
(14) US oil spill inquiry chief slams BP 11 November Ex-BP boss says when oil spill hit, BP was forced to make up disaster response as it went along Tony Hayward: Public saw us as 'fumbling and incompetent' 12 November Greenland wants upfront payment to cover major oil spills in wake of BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster Greenland wants $2bn bond from oil firms keen to drill in its Arctic waters 24 November Ken Feinberg expects to pay out only $2.3bn in emergency claims over Gulf of Mexico oil spill from $20bn fund Half of BP oil spill damages claims 'inadequate', says payout chief 25 November Tar balls discovered in shrimping net seven months after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill Section of Gulf of Mexico closed to shrimpers after tar balls found 15 December The US government files a suit against BP and several of its partners in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
(15) Having just praised the Saints for their cautious gameplan, it backfires spectacularly – Mark Ingram fumbling on a carry up the middle.
(16) It was as much as I could do to stop myself giggling as the bemused caller lost his thread and started fumbling for words.
(17) It would be fair to say that, over time, we fumbled into the cluster,” he adds.
(18) I guess you could make that link superficially, because I'm dark as well, and we're roughly the same age, and when she's fumbling around I can see why people might go there.
(19) Labour may promote more women, but more than one cabinet minister needed his women staff protected from slobbery kisses and aggressive fumblings.
(20) All payouts for specific performances in a game, including interceptions or causing fumbles, are against NFL rules.
Mumble
Definition:
(v.) To speak with the lips partly closed, so as to render the sounds inarticulate and imperfect; to utter words in a grumbling indistinct manner, indicating discontent or displeasure; to mutter.
(v.) To chew something gently with closed lips.
(v. t.) To utter with a low, inarticulate voice.
(v. t.) To chew or bite gently, as one without teeth.
(v. t.) To suppress, or utter imperfectly.
Example Sentences:
(1) Although mumbling is frustrating and annoying at times, it may be a helpful clue to some of the client's most anxiety-provoking thoughts or feelings.
(2) Following a string of controversies about offensive remarks, Clarkson was put on final warning by the BBC in May, after unbroadcast Top Gear footage of him mumbling the N-word during the rhyme “Eeny, meeny, miny moe” was leaked.
(3) A very inebriated Emin mumbled incoherently that "no real people" would be watching and that she wanted to go be with her mum and friends.
(4) In the footage, published on the newspaper's website , Clarkson appears to recite the beginning of the children's nursery rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe..." before appearing to mumble: "Catch a nigger by his toe."
(5) Even the most fervent haters of the BBC can only mutter and mumble when Attenborough productions are mentioned.
(6) Matt Dobson, senior forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said the southern half of the UK had seen the worst weather, with a gust of 71mph recorded in Mumbles in the Gower peninsula, south Wales, as well of 45 to 55mph winds further inland.
(7) Of course, we’ve all mumbled the chorus of a pop song into our sternums when we’ve forgotten the exact words, but then, we probably didn’t have an audience of millions watching.
(8) It's a shame, I thought they would be out a lot earlier," she mumbles.
(9) It's a style that would find a naturally receptive audience in Austin (birthplace of mumble-core), among a crowd raised on American neo-realism.
(10) Harris, who was at the centre of a storm around recent BBC1 drama Jamaica Inn after viewers complained that they could not understand the dialogue, made light of the incident, telling the audience as he accepted his award: "Try not to mumble, try and speak clearly."
(11) In truth I found it a bit shamrocky Oirish but mumble it was fine.
(12) A lot of women have the idea that IUD, IUS and also injectables can affect future fertility in the long term, and there is really no evidence for that.” Mumbled misinformation aside, long-acting reversible contraception has a trump card, as one IUS-using friend put it: “Once it is installed in your body, you can’t not take it, so it gets rid of that pesky human error.” It’s a thought that has struck policy-makers, too.
(13) It was also, crucially, the first step in the shift away from the Winehouse of common caricature, the Olive Oyl figure with the beehive, and the drug abuse, the saucy mouth and the baleful talk of "Blake Incarcerated"; the artist people had sadly come to expect – who had once offered to lamp a member of the audience at Glastonbury, and who had last graced a stage at a festival in Serbia, where she stood swaying and mumbling before a baying audience of 20,000.
(14) The death sentence handed down to 529 protesters by an Egyptian court ( Report , 24 March) should have produced much more than mumbled regret from the British government.
(15) There are private mumblings that Miliband is not a winner.
(16) I wandered down to the local shop, and mumbled something about cigarettes, and was served: it wasn't until a day or two later that I realised my speech had become a bit buggered-about-with as well.
(17) Pellegrini, riled by Mourinho's dash across his box, hardly offered a vote of confidence in his later mumbled assessment.
(18) The rituals are well known – the cursory phone call, or brief summons to No 10, an expression of half-felt gratitude, and a mumbled explanation about the need to find space for new faces, and, if the departing minister is lucky, an exchange of public correspondence thanking them for their work on the reform of local government finance, coupled with a private promise of a seat in the unreformed Lords.
(19) We shuffled uneasily and mumbled our responses awkwardly.
(20) The lords of misrule will not be overthrown by mumbling.