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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fumble \Fum"ble\, verb (used with an object) To handle or manage awkwardly; to crowd or tumble together. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fumble \Fum"ble\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Fumbled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Fumbling}.] [Akin to D. fommelen to crumple, fumble, Sw. fumla to fusuble, famla to grope, Dan. famle to grope, fumble, Icel. falme, AS. folm palm of the hand. See {Feel}, and cf. {Fanble}, {Palm}.]
1. To feel or grope about; to make awkward attempts to do or find something.
Adams now began to fumble in his pockets. --Fielding.
2. To grope about in perplexity; to seek awkwardly; as, to fumble for an excuse. --Dryden.
My understanding flutters and my memory fumbles. --Chesterfield.
Alas! how he fumbles about the domains. --Wordsworth.
3. To handle much; to play childishly; to turn over and over.
I saw him fumble with the sheets, and play with flowers. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
fumble
noun: (sports) dropping the ball [syn: {muff}]
verb
1: feel about uncertainly or blindly; "She groped for her glasses in the darkness of the bedroom" [syn: {grope}]
2: make one's way clumsily or blindly; "He fumbled towards the door" [syn: {blunder}]
3: handle clumsily
4: make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement" [syn: {botch}, {bumble}, {botch up}, {muff}, {blow}, {flub}, {screw up}, {ball up}, {spoil}, {muck up}, {bungle}, {fluff}, {bollix}, {bollix up}, {bollocks}, {bollocks up}, {bobble}, {mishandle}, {louse up}, {foul up}, {mess up}, {fuck up}]
5: drop or juggle or fail to play cleanly a grounder; "fumble a grounder"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
87 Moby Thesaurus words for "fumble": bad job, ball up, be all thumbs, beat about, bevue, blow, blunder, blunder away, blunder into, blunder on, blunder upon, bobble, boggle, bollix, bollix up, bonehead play, boner, boo-boo, botch, bumble, bungle, butcher, clumsy performance, commit a gaffe, confound, confuse, drop, error, etourderie, faux pas, feel, feel around, feel for, flounder, flub, fluff, foozle, foul up, garble, gaucherie, goof up, grabble, grope, grope for, grump, hash, jumble, louse up, lumber, mar, mess, miscue, mishandle, mistake, mix up, mop, mouth, mow, muck up, muddle, muff, mug, murder, murmur, mutter, off day, pet, pi, play havoc with, play hob with, poke around, pout, pry around, riffle, sad work, scrabble, scramble, screw up, shuffle, slip, snafu, snarl up, spoil, stumble, swallow, trip, tumble
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