Lurch vs Stumble - What's the difference?

lurch | stumble |

As nouns the difference between lurch and stumble

is that lurch is a sudden or unsteady movement while stumble is a fall, trip or substantial misstep.

As verbs the difference between lurch and stumble

is that lurch is to make such a sudden, unsteady movement while stumble is to trip or fall; to walk clumsily.

lurch

English

Etymology 1

Noun

(es)

A sudden or unsteady movement.

the lurch of a ship, or of a drunkard

* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4

Yet I hoped by grouting at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one side, and I was left in darkness.

Verb

(es)

To make such a sudden, unsteady movement.

(obsolete) To leave someone in the lurch; to cheat.

* South

Never deceive or lurch the sincere communicant.

(obsolete) To steal; to rob.

* Shakespeare

And in the brunt of seventeen battles since / He lurched all swords of the garland.

Etymology 2

(etyl) (lena) lurcare.

Verb

(es)

(obsolete) To swallow or eat greedily; to devour; hence, to swallow up.

* Francis Bacon

Too far off from great cities, which may hinder business; too near them, which lurcheth all provisions, and maketh everything dear.

Etymology 3

(etyl) .

Noun

An old game played with dice and counters; a variety of the game of tables.

A double score in cribbage for the winner when his/her adversary has been left in the lurch.

* Walpole

Lady Blandford has cried her eyes out on losing a lurch .

Anagrams

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

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