1no object, with adverbial Do or handle something clumsily.

1. 1.1fumble about/around Move clumsily in various directions using the hands to find one's way.
   he fumbled about in the dark but could not find her

   Example sentencesExamples

   • A White House official told me Friday night that, after fumbling around for days, practically every White House agency was getting involved in coping with Katrina.
   • Ian Mackintosh says that until there's some disclosure of non-material expenses the regulator is fumbling around in the dark when it comes to investigating this area.
   • Considering the outlandish wages paid, in a game of very little hardship, the least we should expect is entertainment, and not fumbling around like kids in the local park.
   • Also some of the buttons have a raised edge to help the visually impaired, but which are also handy when you're fumbling around for the pause button in the dark.
   • They're meant to be intuitive type of commands, not where you're not fumbling around trying to figure out what to say.
   • The subhead says, ‘But most of us are still fumbling around in the information stone age.’
   • Most of us have experienced a temporary loss of electricity and know the helpless feeling of fumbling around for a flashlight or matches and candles.
   • Clumsily fumbling around in his personal possessions with fingers which had fallen half-asleep, the emissary produced a neatly rolled-up paper and handed it over to the scaly hand before him.
   • Still holding on to both the ledge and the beam, she moved one foot up and fumbled around trying to find a stepping ledge to use.
   • All at sea and like strangers fumbling around in the dark for the light switch, the City defence was so brittle it was a surprise the creaks couldn't be heard back in North Yorkshire.
   • I was sitting in Panera Bread last night, fumbling around with proxies in an attempt to get around their ham-fisted network filtering.
   • I mean, when I visit people I actually do know really well, I'm not opening cabinets, snooping around the bathroom, fumbling around in closets.
   • Clumsily, he fumbled around for tissues, but couldn't find any.
   • She clumsily opened her book and fumbled around for her pen.
   • Before, you're mostly just fumbling around in the dark, hoping that nods of approval from editors reflect the attitude of the general literary audience, but not really having any idea.
   • The morning after I flew back home for spring break, I found myself fumbling around the kitchen cabinets for breakfast food that didn't boast high-fiber content.
   • The first album came from confused young men in their late teenage years who were fumbling around in the dark for a career and a girlfriend.
   • This approach has led many to wonder if the apparent madness in the method is deliberate or if he is fumbling around aimlessly.
   • He sits bolt upright, his hand fumbling around for the reading glasses.
   • So much for greater cultural understanding when you're fumbling around with your Berlitz phrasebook while gesticulating wildly at your intended interlocutor.

   Synonyms

   stumble, blunder, flounder, lumber, bumble, stagger, totter, lurch, move clumsily, move awkwardly

   feel one's way, grope one's way
2. 1.2with object and adverbial Use the hands clumsily to move (something) as specified.
   she fumbled a cigarette from her bag

   Example sentencesExamples

   • After spending seventeen minutes in blackness, trying to fumble the lock of the cellar open, Jack Moore kicked the door open with a curse and began climbing the stairs.
   • I lost sight of him among the trees, but what I did see made me fumble my cigarette into my lap.
   • He fumbled the key into the padlock, his gaze warily watching one of the three remaining ants.
   • Throwing her Hello Kitty book bag on the passenger seat Lynette fumbled the key into the ignition.
   • The street light gag, fumbling the cigarettes?
   • I found the door to my room and fumbled the keys out of my pocket.
   • Phoenix fumbled a bit with the keys in his rush to get in, and it took a few seconds to get the door unlocked.
   • I noticed a no smoking sign hanging on the wall so I fumbled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it.
   • After returning from the airport, having said goodbye, I sat on the verandah and looked out at the night, fumbling a cigarette, its fire the only bright spot.
   • ‘Whatever,’ he mumbled, fumbling his pockets for his keys.

   Synonyms

   scrabble, fish, ferret, ferret about, ferret around, rummage, rummage about, rummage around, rummage round, root about, root around, feel, cast about, cast around, cast round, search, hunt, look
3. 1.3with object (in ball games) fail to catch or field (the ball) cleanly.
   have you ever seen him fumble a ball?

   no object the keeper fumbled

   Example sentencesExamples

   • However, on first down our big fella fumbles the ball and it bounces right into the hands of one of the players on the other team.
   • The Crigglestone fullback fumbled the ball allowing Neil Kennedy and Ian Barnes to get their hands on the ball at the same time just before the ball went dead.
   • Vick finally escapes the pocket and fumbles the ball, but luckily for Atlanta it goes out of bounds.
   • He is used primarily as a blocker, but be is adept at getting open, catching the ball and not fumbling.
   • It takes some skill to pull the pitch off because if you do it with any little bit of mistiming you will fumble the ball away.
   • The ball is fumbled, it comes loose, and the opposing team picks it up and runs - but a whistle has blown, negating the recovery and the return.
   • He made a grab for it and at the same time fell over the stumps, fumbled the ball and dropped it.
   • Though the plan to give Henry a heavier workload is a good one, he must show he can consistently hang on to the ball after fumbling 11 times in 2002.
   • Sometimes that philosophy gets Green in trouble because he fumbles the ball too much.
   • The ball found its way to Aidan Kehoe but the corner forward fumbled it but the ball fell fortuitously to McGill who crashed it to the net.
   • But he must protect the ball better after fumbling 12 times last season.
   • Cody was much less productive, fumbling the ball at crucial times and finding his way into coach Dave McGinnis' doghouse.
   • The ball bounced in front of Scott Carson, who should have saved comfortably but could only fumble the ball over the line off his upper arm.
   • Green, one of the top backs in the league, fumbled the ball seven times in the first nine games last year.
   • This newfound power decreases the chances of Plummer throwing an interception at the goal line or fumbling the ball at the worst possible moment.
   • Under no pressure whatsoever, Kalac catches an easy ball, then fumbles it, falls on his knees and nearly pushes it into his own net with his nose, like a puppy.
   • Instead, Curry fumbles the ball slightly, blowing the chance for a dunk.

   Synonyms

   fail to catch, miss, drop, mishandle, handle awkwardly

   misfield
4. 1.4 Express oneself or deal with something clumsily or nervously.
   Michael had fumbled for words

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Jay snuggled back down into his goose down pillows and picked up a tennis ball to ideally throw at the ceiling, then he looked at Chris who was still fumbling with his words.
   • Mimi nervously tugged at her shirt, and fumbled for words.
   • I've met some reasonably powerful people in the world, and there's usually an aura that is quite difficult to crack, and you fumble for your words.
   • Orion was fumbling for words to reply to her with.
   • I felt a resigned smile tug at my lips as I watched him, still not calmed down from the moment we'd shared and fumbling for words.
   • You looked into her eyes, your mouth fumbling for the words.
   • ‘They came back, they were back after me again,’ she spoke quickly and rapidly, fumbling for words over the choking of her tears.
   • There was a moment in our conversation when both of us fumbled for words and fell into a brief, awkward silence.
   • Ayden, in another state of shock, fumbled to find words.
   • Gazing at the floor with glossy eyes, the thunderous chant of his name still ringing in his ears, he fumbles for words to describe his euphoria.
   • It was fun watching a seasoned politician almost fumbling for words at an apolitical function.
   • But he did try his best, fumbling over his words.
   • It was fun because he kept fumbling over his words and finally, when he gathered his composure, invited me to a party and gave me a flyer.
   • I began fumbling for words to say in response, still struggling to get over the fact that Tristan was, indeed, a Gypsy.
   • James asked, his speech fumbling over the words carefully.
   • He reached Lee's office, and inched inside, fumbling for words.
   • The mayor, fumbling for words of succor at a press conference, had suggested that God's will was somehow behind those who got out alive.
   • She no longer is the same shy woman who fumbled for words when the sordid episode broke out.
   • We, fumbling for words of love, remember the rockets the spinning wheels, the sudden diamonds and say with delight ‘Yes, like that, like that’
   • Taking that as his cue to leave the kitchen before he fumbled over his words and messed things up more than they already were, he managed to leave with a small excuse for her to call him back.

   Synonyms

   botch, bungle, mismanage, mishandle, spoil

   blunder, make a mistake

   informal make a mess of, make a hash of, fluff, muff, screw up, foul up, blow, louse up

   British informal make a pig's ear of, make a muck of, cock up

   North American informal flub

1usually in singular An act of doing or handling something clumsily.

1. 1.1informal An act of fondling someone for sexual pleasure.
   a quick fumble in a downtown tavern

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Have sex when you're awake, not just at the end of the day when it's a quick fumble before you fall asleep.
   • Earlier, two contestants hopped into bed together for a drink-fuelled fumble in the first spot of canoodling of the series.
   • It might just have to be a three-way tongue-kiss and a fumble, but still.
   • When his bed got wet in a water fight, he sneaked under Sakia's covers for a fumble.
   • Try to ensure that yours doesn't kick off with a drunken fumble on the photocopier - it could be awkward when your children want to know how Mummy and Daddy met.
   • Why go through all that hassle for the sake of a fumble?
   • It's not that I don't want one, it's just I never get the offer of anything other than a drunken fumble.
   • Now the cash registers go ker-ching every time there's a fumble beneath the bed sheets.

   Synonyms

   fondle, grope, caress, hug, embrace, cuddle

   informal feel-up
2. 1.2 (in ball games) an act of failing to catch or field the ball cleanly.
   he recovered a fumble after a bad exchange

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Three starters return from last year's unit that was the worst in the league - its highlight coming when an offensive lineman picked up a fumble and scored in an upset victory over Missouri.
   • So when he spiked it was a live ball - a fumble - grabbed by Jax and returned almost to the Steelers' goal line.
   • By now you know all the terminology, but you don't know if a bouncing ball is a fumble until you watch it on replay from five different angles.
   • Saxton had been guilty of a bad fumble early in the half but it seemed to spur him on and he showed good strength to power his way over after cutting back in from the right.
   • Tennessee had just recovered a fumble at midfield late in the third quarter of its playoff game against the Patriots.
   • Culpepper made two critical mistakes - a fumble on the goal line and, to a lesser extent, the game-ending interception.
   • In two preseason games, he returned a fumble for a touchdown (before a penalty nullified the play), and he blocked a punt for a safety.
   • Worst of all, Burress did the same thing just two years ago and on that play, the officials ruled the ball a fumble.
   • An alert Jaguars defensive player scooped up the ball and returned the fumble 43 yards.
   • A scramble from a corner and a fumble by Jones almost conceded a second goal to the visitors as Ilkley found it difficult to cope with the commitment and determination of the Stanley players.
   • He registered two sacks, blocked a field goal and recovered a fumble.
   • He registered eight tackles, had two sacks, recovered a fumble and blocked a field goal - all despite being blocked most of the game by a tackle and tight end.
   • Former defensive end Bob Dee recovered a fumble in the endzone in the Patriots' first preseason game on July 30, 1960.
   • And the ref is ‘part of the field,’ which makes this a - fumble!
   • They tell Suggs that he better pitch the ball back if he recovers a fumble or intercepts a pass, but he doesn't seem to listen.
   • He stripped the ball from Bulger and caught the fumble for a touchdown to help the Atlanta Falcons beat the St. Louis Rams 34-17.
   • Months earlier, in the preseason, Barton intercepted two passes and returned a fumble for a score - all in one quarter - against Arizona.
   • On the next play, special teams got into the act, forcing a fumble by John Simon and setting up a field goal for a seven-point lead at the half.
   • He opened the scoring with a penalty and made the most of a firth fumble to race 80 metres up field, and add the conversion.
   • The Cobbydale side took the late after 17 minutes when matt Bowness pounced on a fumble from the full back and John Williams added the conversion.

   Synonyms

   slip, miss, drop, mishandling

   misfielding

   mistake, error, gaffe, fault, botch

   informal slip-up, clanger, boob, boo-boo, howler, foul-up, fail

   British informal cock-up
3. 1.3 An act of managing or dealing with something clumsily.
   we are not talking about subtle errors of judgement, but major fumbles

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I made a major fumble last night in modifying the journal files and creating a new one for the day's new entry.