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Hesitate vs Stumble - What's the difference?

hesitate | stumble |

In lang=en terms the difference between hesitate and stumble

is that hesitate is to stammer; to falter in speaking while stumble is to cause to stumble or trip.

As verbs the difference between hesitate and stumble

is that hesitate is to stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination while stumble is to trip or fall; to walk clumsily.

As a noun stumble is

a fall, trip or substantial misstep.

hesitate

English

Alternative forms

* (archaic)

Verb

(hesitat)
  • To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination.
    • He hesitated''' whether to accept the offer or not; men often '''hesitate in forming a judgment.
    (Alexander Pope)
  • To stammer; to falter in speaking.
  • (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.
  • *
    • Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    * deliberate * demur * doubt * falter * mammer * scruple * stammer * waver

    Derived terms

    * hesitant * hesitation

    External links

    * * *

    stumble

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fall, trip or substantial misstep.
  • An error or blunder.
  • A clumsy walk.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.}}

    Synonyms

    * (a blunder) blooper, blunder, boo-boo, defect, error, fault, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, mistake, slip, thinko * See also

    Verb

    (stumbl)
  • To trip or fall; to walk clumsily.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • He stumbled up the dark avenue.
  • *
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for.}}
  • To make a mistake or have trouble.
  • To cause to stumble or trip.
  • (figurative) To mislead; to confound; to cause to err or to fall.
  • * Milton
    • False and dazzling fires to stumble men.
  • * John Locke
    • One thing more stumbles me in the very foundation of this hypothesis.
  • To strike or happen (upon a person or thing) without design; to fall or light by chance; with on'', ''upon'', or ''against .
  • * Dryden
    • Ovid stumbled , by some inadvertency, upon Livia in a bath.
  • * C. Smart
    • Forth as she waddled in the brake, / A grey goose stumbled on a snake.

    Derived terms

    * * * *

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    *