bumble

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbʌmbəl/ Rhymes: -ʌmbəl === Etymology 1 === Onomatopoeia. Compare bungle, jumble, and fumble. ==== Noun ==== bumble (plural bumbles) A confusion; a jumble. ==== Verb ==== bumble (third-person singular simple present bumbles, present participle bumbling, simple past and past participle bumbled) (intransitive) To act or move in an awkward or confused manner (often clumsily, incompetently, or carelessly). [from 1530s] (originally Scotland and Northern England, transitive) To carry out (a task) clumsily, incompetently, or with many careless mistakes; to bungle, to botch. [from ca. 1719?] ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== bungle fumble jumble ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Verb: Frequentative of boom and/or bum, equivalent to bum +‎ -le. Noun: From the verb. ==== Verb ==== bumble (third-person singular simple present bumbles, present participle bumbling, simple past and past participle bumbled) (intransitive) To boom, as a Eurasian bittern. [from ca. 1405] (intransitive, of an insect) To buzz or bum. [from 1689] (intransitive, frequently with on) To speak in a rambling, incoherent, or indistinct manner, especially at tedious length. [from 1911] (transitive, obsolete) To grumble at; to blame. [1675–1781] ===== Related terms ===== bumblebee bumblebird ==== Noun ==== bumble (plural bumbles) A bumblebee. [from 1599] (UK, Ireland, dialect) A Eurasian bittern. [from 1813] === See also === bumbledom === References === “bumble, v.2”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000. “bumble, v.1”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000. “bumble, n.1”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000. “bumble, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “bumble (v.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.