STUMP
What does "STUMP" mean?
The bottom part of a tree left in the ground after the trunk is cut down.
Meanings
- The base of a tree trunk remaining after the tree is felled. We sat on an old stump to eat lunch.
- The remaining part of something cut, broken, or worn down, such as a limb or pencil. The pencil was worn down to a stump.
- To baffle or perplex someone so they cannot answer. That last question stumped the whole class.
- To travel an area making political speeches; to campaign. The candidate stumped across the state for a month.
Did you know?
- When a politician goes 'on the stump', the phrase is literal history: frontier-era American campaigners climbed onto cut tree stumps to stand tall enough for a crowd to see and hear them.
Word origin
From Middle English 'stumpe', of Germanic origin, related to Middle Low German 'stump'. The political sense comes from frontier America, where speakers stood on tree stumps to address a crowd.
Remember it
STUMP - a tree STUMP can STUMP you if you trip on it; both leave you stopped short.
A little poem
The tree is gone, but-
rings still counting the lost years
in the silent stump.
haiku
Wordplay
- The candidate gave a speech from a tree stump and still managed to stump everyone.
What it teaches
Even what's cut down keeps a record; a stump still counts every year the tree once lived.
Quick facts
What does STUMP mean?
The bottom part of a tree left in the ground after the trunk is cut down.
Is STUMP a valid word?
Yes — STUMP is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is STUMP?
STUMP has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does STUMP come from?
From Middle English 'stumpe', of Germanic origin, related to Middle Low German 'stump'. The political sense comes from frontier America, where speakers stood on tree stumps to address a crowd.
What can STUMP teach us?
Even what's cut down keeps a record; a stump still counts every year the tree once lived.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.