Meanings
present singular third person stumbles across · participle present stumbling across · participle past stumbled across · past stumbled across
- transitiveTo discover or find (something) by accident.
This magnificent picture really stopped me in my tracks when I stumbled across it. I was drawn inexorably and immediately into the compelling detail discernible on this top-quality image.
2021 December 1, Nigel Harris, “St Pancras and King's Cross: 1947”, in RAIL, number 945, page 36Synonyms: come across, come upon, happen upon, stumble on, stumble upon
- transitiveTo meet (somebody) by chance.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo discover or find (something) by accident.
Translations
German auf etwas stoßen
- auf etwas stoßento come across by accident; to discover by accident
Norwegian snuble over
- snuble overto come across by accident; to discover by accident
Polish natrafiać, natrafić
- natrafiaćto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- natrafićto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- natykać sięto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- natknąć sięto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- napotykaćto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- napotkaćto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- wpadaćto come across by accident; to discover by accident
- wpaśćto come across by accident; to discover by accident
Russian натыкаться
- натыкаться (natykatʹsja)to come across by accident; to discover by accident
Cite this entry
stumble across. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stumble%20across
“stumble across.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stumble%20across. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stumble across,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stumble%20across.
Source: stumble across on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.